Something Extra Special
by CretianStar
Summary: For the Misfits Challenge By Ms Louis Cordice Zabini. What happens when magical folk get struck by lightning? M Rating for lemoniness and a whole mixture of pairings! HP/PP DM/HG RW/AG BZ/LL (I know when it reaches over 20 chapters new readers don't want to have to catch up, but pleeeease do! It's a fabulous challenge.)
1. Getting Detention

For Ms Louis Cordice Zabini's Misfits Challenge Harry Potter AU Fic. The details of which should become apparent throughout this story! First attempt at a challenge fic, hope you all enjoy!

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**Getting Detention**

Luna knew the work load was tough building up to NEWTS level, but this goddamn Astronomy essay wasn't getting any longer and she'd been at it for an hour and a half. In the end Luna had had enough, and in a fit of very un-Luna-like rage she tore her half-hearted essay parchment up, bent her quill and threw her bottle of ink at the wall.

Unfortunately for Luna, if it had been any other day she would've been alone in the secluded Ravenclaw marked corner of the library, but Madame Pince rounded the corner to view the blonde's rage, and narrowly missed being hit with an ink bottle.

"MISS LOVEGOOD." The old witch screamed as the glass shattered behind her. A totally different silence covered the library now as the old woman's screech echoed. "How dare you?! Twenty points from Ravenclaw and detention tonight 7pm. I happen to know Professor Sprout already has detention organised for other unruly students. Greenhouse 3." Spittle gathered at the corner of the cranky librarian's lips and Luna's rage had vanished leaving behind a sense of fear. As the fierce woman turned to leave she saw the fresh and dripping ink mark on the stone wall and waved her wand. A dustpan and brush alongside a mop and bucket appeared.

"Clean it. By hand, before you leave, silently, for dinner Miss Lovegood. No magic."

_Earlier in the castle_

"Oi mudblood!" A drawling voice echoed through a corridor, halting Hermione, Ron and Harry as they made their way down to dinner.

"Leave it Harry." Hermione tugged on his sleeve, attempting to pull both him and Ron towards the Great Hall.

"Didn't you hear Draco. _Mudblood._" Pansy Parkinson's sneering voice also carried to the three. They turned and saw Malfoy lounging on a pillar, Zabini and Parkinson flanking him.

"Watch yourself Parkinson." Hermione snarled and suddenly it was Harry and Ron holding Hermione back.

"Meoww. Gryffindor Princess isn't a bookworm Blaise, she's a fierce little kitten." Draco moved from his relaxed stance and circled the three of them.

"Back off Malfoy." Hermione hissed as he stood in front of them, her eyes glittering with anger.

"Yeah Malfoy, Hermione's a big girl now, she kicked your arse in third year and she can do it again now. But only this time with a little more power." Ron smirked; he still relished the memory of Mione smacking his ferret faced foe.

The smirk set Draco off and he shot a stunning spell at Ron, Hermione deflecting it with ease, covering Harry as he fired at the Slytherin's. The fight worsened as all six now shot and defended themselves from the curses. Masonry chunks started to litter the scene as deflected and misaimed spells his the corridor but it was a roar of 'Petrificus Totalus' that ended the fight.

Not one of the six had ever seen Professor Sprout look so furious. She'd frozen them mid fight; curses half muttered on their lips, battle faces still worn – it was an ugly scene coupled with the damage to the West Corridor. Each of them had fifty points taken away and detention. 7pm. Greenhouse 3. Tonight. Or else." The new side of Professor Sprout awed them, even Draco Malfoy who had always presumed the jovial plump witch to be somewhat of a marshmallow when it came to the angry side of being a teacher.

When she unfroze them and disappeared down the corridor, Pansy snarled at the three Gryffindors.

"Nice going mudblood, blood traitors." She spat and without warning Harry slammed her into the wall, uncaring of Draco and Blaise's colourful words.

"Not one more word from you Parkinson or you will regret it." Green eyes bore into dark brown and for the moment the Snake in her faltered and backed down. She nodded and Harry drew away, still glaring at her before Hermione pulled him away more.

"We need to go to dinner Harry." She mumbled and three moved off.

"Draco, mate. Because of you, we have _all_ now got detention, and this is because some bushy haired bookworm gets to you. Thank you very much." Blaise clapped a hand to his now scowling friends shoulder and they sauntered down the stairway.

"Yeah thanks a lot Drake, we now have to see more of those three in detention as well." Pansy traipsed down the stairs. "Why do we have Astronomy before dinner, honestly these stairs are annoying." She grumbled.

"Would you rather fall through them?" Blaise raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "We're gonna need a big dinner to deal with the funtimes we're gonna have with our three favourite Gryffindors." Blaise grumbled.

"I never realised Sprout could be so harsh." Draco laughed as they slipped into the Great Hall.

"Did you not?" Blaise said in some surprise. "Sprouts detentions are rare but as bad as old Snape's – they're back breaking."


	2. Detention Sprout Style

A/N: I really like this challenge, in fact it kept me up a lot of the time working out where I'm going to plot this magical little one. Anyway please enjoy! All mistakes are my own. BY THE WAY I couldn't let Dobby Die. Just saying.

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**Detention – Sprout style.**

When Luna arrived in detention, somewhat late hiding from wrackspurts, the other six were already elbow deep in dragon manure.

"Where have you been Miss Lovegood?" Professor Sprout scolded as the whimsical blonde slipped in the greenhouse. "Detention started at seven." She pointed to the clock behind her; there was no trace of the jolly herbology teacher that Luna often talked to.

"I thought Madame Pince said half seven Professor, I'm sorry." She bent her head to hide the uncharacteristic glint in her eye. Luna had been feeling more rebellious than normal since her outburst in the library.

"Hand your wand over Miss Lovegood, I will come back at nine with food, but for now there are your pots and I want three Biting Toadstool seeds to each pot. After that you are defanging the geraniums – Professor Snape requires the teeth for potions with his sixth years next week." Professor Sprout locked Luna's wand away with the others and bustled out of the door without another word.

"Hey Luna where were you?" Harry said as Luna tugged on the dragon hide gardening gloves before joining them at the table.

"The wrackspurts cornered me in the West corridor. I didn't know how to escape without becoming fuzzy headed. Someone else walked past and they followed them instead, allowing me to get here." She grinned as she pulled three little pellets out of the seeding packets tucking them into the warmth of the manure.

"Wrackspurts Looney?" Pansy sniggered and caught Draco's eye, both bursting into giggles while Blaise stared at the Ravenclaw intently. Normally his intense stare unnerved people and they looked away, not with Luna, she stared back dreamily, a small smile curling up the corners of her mouth. It was Blaise who looked away first.

"Back off Parkinson." Harry snarled and went back to his own Biting Toadstools seeds that were starting to wriggle in their packets.

"Watch yourself Potter." Draco growled under his breath as he finished up his seeds and dated the pots so Sprout would know when they were due to grow.

"Why do they have seeds?" Luna said, holding the wiggling seed to the light.

"What do you mean Looney?" Blaise said exasperated.

"Well Toadstools are Fungi, not seeds like plants, so why are Biting ones seeds?" She popped the pellet into the warmth and covered it over.

"Gross this is fungi?!" Pansy screeched flinging the manure covering her gloves around the greenhouse.

_Splat._ It hit Ron right in the face.

"You are kidding me Parkinson." Ron growled wiping the manure off of his face.

"Ron…" Hermione warned under her breath but Ron saw red, grabbing a handful of manure out of the hessian sack he threw it at Pansy, but manure didn't stick together in the way, say a brick did. It spread out, like water and hit not only Parkinson but Blaise as well. It struck the dark skinned boy who froze; he peered down at his manure covered chest, back up at Ron who was glaring at the three Slytherin's and back down to his own pot of fertiliser.

An all-out fight started, apparently magic wasn't required here and soon fertiliser and leaves and muck and almost everything was thrown across the greenhouse table, smearing across hands, faces, jumper and windows.

Finally when ammunition run out Hermione screamed for them to stop, dragging Harry down as Luna held down Ron, while Pansy and Blaise held back a furious Draco.

"You will be paying for my laundry bill you disgusting little Weasley." Luna struggled to stop the redhead launching himself at Draco.

"You little ferret, you wait until I get my wand back, I will transform you into your better looking furry side Malfoy." Ron struggled against Luna's grasp but she all but sat on him to keep him down.

"Harry come on let's clean up." Hermione tugged their mucky, smelly selves over to the water pump, dragging off her robes and dunking into the water. Glancing at the clock she sighed. "We've got an hour until Sprout comes back to clean this up." She looked ruefully around at the manure strewn room and groaned. "This is gonna earn us double detention." Ron came over and started to pick the manure lumps out of his hair.

"This is disgusting." Luna said running her fingers down her white shirt, smearing the marks.

"This isn't going to work." Harry said looking at his sopping wet cloak and hanging it over a corner of a shelf.

"Move Lovegood." Pansy hissed and stood at the waterbutt, all but dunking her head in it.

"How are we going to clean this up?" Hermione bemoaned looking at the windows again. "The only option is unthinkable." She looked at the six assembled around her.

"Why am I going to regret asking this?" Ron sighed and looked up at her. "But what is the unthinkable?"

"We have to work together…" Hermione let the sentence hang heavily in the air.

"Work with you? Mudblood, Weasel and Pothead, not to mention Looney? Do you think we're insane?" Draco spluttered.

"How old are you Malfoy, those insults are for a first year?" Hermione stood face to face with him. "Either we try it my way and avoid getting detention from now until the end of March, or we don't." She raised an eyebrow.

"What's your plan Granger?" He said sarcastically.

"Draco are we really going to work with _them_?" Pansy looked almost affronted at the idea of having to be near them.

"We have to, detention Sprout style is disgusting." He gestured to their muck covered self.

"We split into teams, four of us clean, three of us finish the seeds and the defanging." Hermione shrugged.

"Slytherins do not clean." Blaise said raising an eyebrow as if they dared to even suggest it.

"Fine, we'll clean, you plant the seeds and defang, but you'll have to do it fast, we've only got 50 minutes to do all of them." Luna sighed, standing up and brushing soil from her skirt. The three Gryffindor's stood with her, somewhat buoyed by Luna's characteristic optimism. Ron grumbled at having to clean, after all his mother normally did that but when Hermione reminded him that Sprout would have food he worked faster.

By the time Sprout did arrive with a tray of sandwiches and Butterbeer, the windows all but sparkled, the shelves and floors were clean of much, the hessian sack was refilled with leftover manure, there was a line of pots each dated and the geraniums were gummily snapping at flies. She gave them back their wands to clean themselves, Hermione sneakily dried their cloaks while Sprout handed out the food before locking the wands away again. Half an hour later they were in greenhouse five picking Transylvanian Tomatoes.

"Can anyone tell me the properties of these tomatoes." Sprout said as she sat on the bench at the end of the greenhouse. "Miss Granger."

"Of course, nerd strikes again." Draco muttered causing Pansy to giggle.

"Transylvanian Tomatoes are known for their blood replenishing properties, they were altered by Wizards of the fifteenth century in Transylvania because of Vlad or Dracula as he's better known." Hermione recited, still as eager as her eleven year old self.

"Indeed, ten points to Gryffindor, despite this being a detention." Sprout conceded and stood upright. "Any idea why we're growing them here at Hogwarts?" Not even Hermione knew this one. "Twilight." She sighed. "Half the younger girls have got it into their head that they want a vampire lover and as we all know the representation of vampires in that bloody muggle book is inaccurate, half of them are anaemic and we're running low on blood replenishing because of it." She sighed and looked at them again. "Well students, its ten pm now the case that I've locked your wand in won't open until quarter to midnight but you have Peruvian cabbages to harvest as well as spraying the Mendax beans with slug repellent. You should be finished by then." With that she left with a cheery goodnight.

"She didn't stay to supervise our detention for more than an hour." Luna smiled and put her basket of tomatoes down.

"We are seventh years Luna, also she's locked our wands away, what damage can we really do?" Harry sighed and sat on the stone bench running his hand through his hair. Clumps of dried dirt fell from his messy hair. "Oh yeah." He grinned and picked up another basket.

_As the clock struck half eleven_

"Peruvian cabbages." Hermione said standing up and clicking her back. "I hate cabbages, they weigh so much."

"I will never get rid of the smell of slug repellent." Draco said in an affected voice as he tugged on his dry cloak.

As Hermione stretched towards the roof of the greenhouse there was a loud crash and rumble of thunder, lightning split the sky and the rain just dropped.

"Wow." Luna said pressing her face against the window, a large bolt hit the ground just outside the greenhouse, illuminating the glass building better than any of the lamps Sprout had lit as she left.

"This is one hell of a storm." Harry looked through the transparent roof, watching the fat raindrops run down.

"We've got time to kill anyway." Hermione sat down on the wooden trestle table.

"What do you mean? We should make a run for it." Pansy didn't like thunder, it had scared her as a child and it still scared her now, not that she'd show it in front of three Gryffindors'.

"We've got about 10 minutes until our wands are freed." Blaise said as he leant against one of the bricked shelves at the back of the greenhouses, Pansy came and sat next to him, sitting closer than she normally would. Blaise and Draco knew how much she hated storms so when the blonde sat the other side of her Pansy was incredibly grateful for the security the two boys provided.

At the single chime from the clock for the quarter to mark the case popped open and seven wands were given back to their owners who received them happily.

"Now we can run." Luna twirled her wand and walked out into the storm, unaffected by the rain as she skipped out of the greenhouse. The other followed suit and hurried behind the airy blonde. As they passed the Whomping Willow everything went bright white and for a moment all seven froze into place. But the bright light passed and they all shrugged it off as a close strike from the lightning before reaching the main doors.

"They don't open!" Draco tugged on the handle and slammed his hand against the wood as the doors refused to budge.

"It's the storms…" Luna said in a dreamy fashion. "The doors always lock when there's a thunderstorm, didn't you guys know?" She smiled, uncaring that her charm was starting to wear off and her blonde hair was plastered to her face. "They get scared too."

"You are kidding me right Looney?" Blaise grabbed the Ravenclaw by the shoulders and shook her. '_Weird little freak, hot weird little freak, her white shirt's starting to go see through'_

"Zabini I don't mind you staring at my chest but must you tell everyone?" Luna sighed looking down seeing her pale yellow bra was now very visible.

"I didn't say anything about that Lovegood." Blaise jumped away from her as though he'd been burned.

"Luna what are you on about, Zabini was saying how stupid you were not to tell us that the main door's would be locked." Harry said cautiously, watching his already peculiar friend frown.

"No, Blaise said weird little freak, hot little freak, her white shirt's starting to go see through." Luna looked bemused by the turn of events.

"Look I don't care!" Pansy suddenly screamed, everyone's charms had worn off and they were all wet and cold and unable to muster any magic to dry them out. "We need to get in this storm's getting worse!" Pansy's voice shot up a few octaves and Harry smirked.

"Aww is baby Parkinson scared of thunder?" He cajoled but before Draco could even think of reprimanding him Hermione told him to zip it and help them work out how to get in.

"Ravenclaw courtyard…" Hermione mumbled, thinking of all the archways that lead into the warmth and dry.

"Overlooks the Black Lake Granger, what do you suggest we scale the cliff?!" Draco snorted. '_Bloody Granger, little know it all mudblood." _Luna frowned again, Harry hadn't reacted to the insult, nor had Ron, it was almost as if only she could hear it. This time though she said nothing.

"We could just use the elf entrance. Dobby would let us in." Ron shivered and hurried around to the North edge of the castle, the others following.

When they were finally in the warmth with the elves offering to dry their cloaks and everything, an excited Dobby bouncing on his toes with the Great Harry Potter, the Harry Potter who had saved him twice, once from the Malfoys (whom he ignored) and the other from the Lestrange woman, they went their separate ways, with Harry making Dobby walk Luna back to her tower so she was safe.

Ron summed it up pretty well as the trio collapsed by the fire in their pyjamas a little while afterwards.

"What happened tonight?"

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Mendax; Liar


	3. Luna

A/N: The third Instalment and I don't really have a note to give apart from REVIEW because it makes me happy, often it makes me laugh too myself and because I adore writing this challenge! P.S Thoughts are in Italics

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**The Next Day**

**Luna**

Luna woke up with a pounding headache. In fact she'd gone to bed with a pounding headache, she kept getting flashes of the weirdest things; her roommates doing bizarre things she just couldn't understand it. Marietta Edgecombe had been chased by a bear covered in spots, Cho Chang was flying but chasing a snitch that was made out of chocolate and Padma Patil was kissing Viktor Krum. It freaked her out, which was hard to do considering she was usually being chased by wrackspurts and Luna had jumped into bed and stuffed the pillows over her head, trying to break up the images that zipped in front of her eyes.

By the time Luna had dragged herself down to breakfast her head felt like it was going to explode, her eyes felt dry and achey and it was as Anthony Goldstein walked past her whistling that she realised she could hear what was going on inside his head.

'_I wonder if Looney will let me copy her Astronomy essay, she must've done it by now. I'll just tell her that I've found a nargle nest again, she'll go mad with happiness.' _Luna had frozen in the corridor, ignoring the tuts as people had to walk around her, muttering about crazy Lovegood and her stupid tendencies. Whether they were talking out loud or inside their head she didn't really care that much, she'd always brushed off comments people said about her, believing that they had a heart underneath that didn't really mean it.

Luna was shaken from her daydream when Crabbe and Goyle shoved into her, the clarity if being inside their heads was crystal but also excruciating – while they were somewhat dim-witted their instincts controlled their brains more than rational thought did and it was like they were shouting in her ears how much they wanted food. Covering her ears Luna ran for cover in an abandoned classroom, now hidden by a tapestry. Usually it was her favourite place to just relax but now it only slightly muffled the busy brains of the stampede outside. She just couldn't handle it.

Luna was used to a fairly quiet life, at nearly seventeen she had mastered ignoring people's comments about her but it was doubled – the intensity of hearing it from their mouths and from their heads made her skull feel like it was going to crack open. Her stomach rumbled, complaining that they had diverted away from breakfast but Luna was daunted by the prospect of the whole school in one room, her eardrums would surely shatter from the inane chatter.

She hid, waiting until the corridor fell silent and mostly it did, the shrieks in her ears dulled a little more but it was like a constant buzz in the back of her mind, made up of hundreds of voices, hundreds of mundane thoughts as students prepared for the coming day. Finally she sneaked out, passing only one or two students, ducking her head and wincing as their brains collided with hers and she made her way down to the kitchens. She was inside and … silence…? She'd been expecting the feedback from the multitude of elves working beside her but there was none, nothing just the humdrum noise echoing faintly from the Great Hall above her.

"How can I help you Miss Lovegood? Why are you not at breakfast?" Dobby appeared before her.

"Ahh Dobby. My head hurts and it was far too noise up there, is there a chance I can have a fry up please?" Luna had been on a health kick but after this morning she wanted eggs, bacon and sausage and mushroom and basically all of it.

"Certainly I can indeed, please sit Miss Lovegood, I will bring it over with tea?" Dobby smiled and Luna grinned as his ears twitched in happiness she nodded and sat at a small table he had magicked before her. She thanked the little elf politely that brought over a mug and sugar before rubbing her fingers against her temples. The headache wouldn't clear and it fogged up her senses, so much so that she didn't notice a small female elf standing in front of her.

"Headache Miss?" The little elf chirped. "I can help, Dobby says I'm very good at Healing." She smiled and Luna nodded, she had complete faith in the Elf population. Slowly the little house-elf put her cold fingers on Luna's head and she could feel the pressure melting away, leaving her somewhat fuzzy headed but she'd excuse the wrackspurts for now.

"Thank you little…"

"Holly Miss, my name is little Holly." She grinned and jumped off the table as Dobby put down Luna's breakfast and the blonde attacked it with relish.

Luna was a Ravenclaw for a reason; while she often thought outside the box, she was also academically clever as expected for a Ravenclaw. Her brain worked fast and she could discern that breakfast was over as there was an ebb in the thoughts above her, biting her lip Luna quickly weighed up her choices. Spend all day with a shattering headache trying to block out the thoughts or take refuge in the forest with the Thestrals and beg different people for the class notes later on.

The Thestrals it was Luna decided as the Hufflepuffs streamed back to their basement, their thoughts screaming at her through the thick stone walls. Luna realised she wouldn't be attending classes for a while if she carried on like this but the noise was going to send her crazier than normal if she didn't run from it. If she couldn't hear the elves thoughts it was logical that she wouldn't hear the forests thoughts either and the silence and coolness of the forest would be a welcome relief.

So bracing herself best she could Luna rushed from the Kitchen with a hurried thank you to Dobby and Little Holly before pushing past people in the emptying corridors. She was stopped by a somewhat disgusted Blaise when she ran headlong into him and the touch of his bare arm on hers made his thoughts crystal clear again.

'_That little Ravenclaw's such a freak, especially after last night, I mean how can she have known what I was thinking, right down to the words?'_ Blaise was thinking all of this as he sneered at Luna's face. '_Stupid girl, why doesn't she run like all the others do, or flirt with me, she just stares with those round eyes, like she's staring into your soul.' _

"What are you staring at Lovegood?" Blaise snapped and stood there, eyeballing her back. '_What on earth am I doing, Vector will do her nut if I'm late again and I was so hoping to toy with Edgecombe in this lesson, see if I can add her to my battered bedpost.'_

"Edgecombe does fancy you Blaise you may be in with a chance." Luna smiled, regardless of the pain now the corridors had emptied out somewhat.

"What?!" Blaise lost his usual calm temperament and grabbed her by the shoulders; he thought she winced because his fingers bit into the soft flesh of her arm, but really the anger and … fright in his thoughts battering away at her skull like a hammer and chisel was what made Luna screw up her pretty face in pain.

"Get off Blaise. I need to go." She tore herself away from the startled Slytherin who called out after her as she ran down the corridor.

"Lovegood, you're in here like now! Oi I THOUGHT RAVENCLAW'S WERE PRUDES WHO DIDN'T SKIP CLASS." But Blaise didn't care that much, he shrugged and slipped into the Arithmancy class while Vector's back was turned. His quick, serpent like mind analysing Luna and her soul seeing abilities.


	4. Pansy & Blaise

A/N: I was going to do a chapter for each student but honestly it was so much effort. Pure laziness on my behalf but also a creative block that tampered with the muse.

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**The Same Day **

**Pansy**

When Pansy came down to breakfast she had a worried look on her face. It was the furrowed brow that almost alarmed her best friend.

"Pansy what's wrong?" Astoria whispered as the dark-haired girl sat next to her, grabbing at the jam saying nothing.

"It's nothing but I woke up under my bed…" Pansy watched Astoria's surprised reaction and shook her head. "Ignore it, I must have slept walk, the storm last night really freaked me out." Pansy looked down at her toast, feeling her appetite melt away. Astoria smiled softly and shook her anxious friend.

"I know storms freak you out Pans but don't worry about it for now, you need your concentration for Ancient Runes first up and you know what Babbles is like first thing in the morning!" Pansy quirked a smile at the thought of the eccentric teacher. Not quite as insane as Trelawney but all the same Babbles was devoted to her subject and well Runes had clearly messed up her head a little.

"You're right." Pansy said resting her elbows on the table as the Great Hall started to empty out. It was as the last few Slytherins left that she slid straight through the table, only just managing to catch herself before she head-butted the floor. "What the?!" Pansy looked at her own arms scared as she scuttled away from the table.

"Pans, what happened?" Astoria's eyes were wide open and she looked from the table to Pansy's own terrified face and back again.

"I have no idea." Pansy gulped and stood upright, hugging herself as Astoria stood from the bench shakily.

"Did you just …." Astoria babbled.

"Go through it? Yes." Pansy gulped.

"Do you suppose that's what …?"

"Happened this morning and why I was underneath my bed? I don't know!" Pansy looked terrified and suddenly didn't want to be anywhere near anything solid. Standing awkwardly between the wall and the empty Slytherin table the two girls were called back to their senses by a disgruntled Snape.

"I don't like seeing that the last two students in here are mine. Move." The Professor's black eyes sparkled in anger and all but pushed the two of them out, suspicious that the two girls were silent for once. Not even a retort came from a rather white Parkinson's lips.

But Snape thought nothing of it as he realised he had first year potions and grimaced, sweeping out of the corridor in a whirl of black.

"You know something?" Pansy sensed that Astoria was trying to distract her and decided to play along. "Snape's still a miserable bat even after everything that's happened." Pansy laughed and the pair wound their way towards Ancient Runes and Babbling's cave like classroom with its torch lit walls. Walls that were scarred by olden symbols that they were meant to decipher and its stone benches that gave you backache for at least three days if you were unlucky enough to have double Runes.

**_Arithmancy_**

**Blaise**

Arithmancy was hardly Blaise's favourite subject but he actually wanted good NEWTS and was dreading strict Vector's chilling put down; he swore that Vector had taken over Snape's position of most sarcastic teacher.

He was just thankful that the grouchy witch hated creaking doors and made sure hers were oiled as he soundlessly slipped into the backdoor of the classroom and took the empty table at the back. Flicking his eyes around the classroom to see if anyone noticed his entrance but thankfully it looked like no-one had bothered. He spotted Edgecombe sat at the front next to Ernie Macmillan, Granger was on her own desk, 101 textbooks spread over the desk, quill frantically scribbling and Draco was sat on the desk in front of Blaise.

Smirking Blaise poked Draco in the ribs and when the irritated blonde turned around to see who could possibly be poking him he didn't appear to see Blaise. Blaise watched as Draco's brow wrinkled before turning back round. That was strange, Draco normally smirked before shooting him the finger, instead the blonde had turned around uneasily.

Blaise tried again. Same thing happened, except Draco looked really bemused now. Blaise looked down at himself, two hands, one body, two legs… What?!

He tried for a third time and this time Draco gave him a glare.

"Blaise what the fuck?!" He hissed.

"What do you mean?!" Blaise hissed back, only for Vector to hear.

"LANGUAGE! Ten points from Slytherin and the pair of you wait outside. It's disgusting sending seventh years out!" She clucked and turned back to the board.

The pair collected their things and trooped outside, still silently arguing and shooting glares at one another until the door shut. Neither of them were going to wait for Vector to reprimand the later on and they walked away still arguing.

"Some disillusioning charm I suppose?! Did you think it was funny?!" Draco snarled as they dumped their bags on a stone bench.

"What are you on about Draco?! I know I was five minutes late to class but that was Looneys fault. I've been there for most of the time!"

"I swear to Salazaar Blaise you were not there when you poked me the first two times."

"I swear I was sat there, my books were on the desk!" Blaise sat down and the pair now eyed each other warily.

"What can have happened then?!" Draco raised an eyebrow while Blaise sat there rubbing at his hair.

"Could it have been Looney?" Blaise relayed his meeting with the mad Ravenclaw and watched his best friend's features change before he agreed with Blaise. "So I need to question her?!" Blaise refused to admit he was a little worried about seeing Lovegood again – that whole mind reading thing was bothering him still.

"See what the crazy little thing did to you. Have you ever attempted to read the Quibbler?" Blaise shook his head at Draco's scorning question. "It's fucking insane I mean, crazy train definitely stopped at the Lovegood house."

Blaise snickered and Draco laughed as well, their squabble behind them as quickly as best friends usually do and they spent the next hour stretched out on the benches bewitching various things, like small pebbles to pelt the first years that were lost or late.

The dark skinned Slytherin fell silent as he brooded over the strange blonde.


	5. It Gets Worse

A/N: This is a filler chapter more than anything! I just didn't know how to kickstart it to the next gear without being repetitive of the last few chapters. Enjoy guys Enjoy.

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**A week later.**

A week after the detention and weird things were happening in Hogwarts.

Well weirder than Hogwarts had ever been, which was hard to beat.

Luna had snapped at almost everyone, earning herself three weeks' worth of detentions helping Hagrid, Filch and Professor Snape. She was dreading it but she just couldn't shift the headaches, the voices, the pain it was just too much for her.

Harry had had so many day dreams and night dreams with himself as a cat and had found himself unconsciously contorting his body into mimicking Crookshanks as they sat in the Gryffindor common room.

Ron and Hermione weren't talking. She'd brushed him accidently handing him her essay to copy, his fingers had slipped across hers and the next thing the pair of them know they're rolling around the thankfully empty common room writhing against one another. Neither of them could look at each other without the awkwardly confusing memories bubbling to the surface. Hermione hadn't wanted to talk about it but every time she opened her mouth to mention, Ron had given her a look and she could feel her mouth shutting, words fading without her meaning to.

It wasn't much better in the Slytherin end of the school. Blaise had discovered that he was being ignored, by a lot of people at a lot of strange times. He also hadn't managed to track down Lovegood to ask her what kind of hex she had used on him. The only time he had seen her, she looked furious and upset. She'd collided with him a second time but hadn't seemed to see him and stormed out of the archway, clutching her head and ran to the Black Lake out of his sight.

Astoria was finding her best friend regularly in places she shouldn't, like under the bed, on the other sides of doors she'd been leaning against and both girls were thoroughly perturbed by it. Pansy was terrified and no matter how hard she held to door handles and bannisters it didn't seem to make a difference.

Draco on the other hand was very happy, he had discovered a talent that every lazy muggle wanted, and every lazy wizard as well. He could move things with his mind! It was keeping him thoroughly entertained; at meal times he made bowls of cereals or soups slide across the table so their owners put their elbows in them, he made teachers and students fall on their butts as they went to sit down and he even made a first year fly. That one had taken real concentration and gave him a killer headache for a day so he left he didn't try that one again.

"I just don't understand it." Professor Snape sat in teacher's lounge while Headmistress McGonagall ranted about a very rude Luna Lovegood. "It's like just a handful of students have had personality transplants." The bad tempered Professor eased his sore leg onto the nearby table and winced as the knee crunched.

"What do you mean?" Professor Sprout sat beside him, handing the dark haired wizard a bottle of oil wordlessly. "I've found Potter itching at his ear like a cat would, Granger seems reluctant to stand next to anyone during Herbology, jumping every time someone taps her. Luna has a constant frown and Zabini barely turns up to any classes. Malfoy has suddenly become so cheerful it's painful for an old witch like me, Parkinson is ridiculously clumsy and call me crazy but Ronald Weasley has become suave."

Snape almost choked at the last admission by the plump Herbology teacher who laughed but nodded. "It's true, he gets this look in his eye and so many people jump to help him, and it's utterly bizarre to watch. All except Granger, I've never seen two thirds of the Golden Trio be so far apart."

If the teachers thought they were confused it was hell for the students involved.

Hermione and Draco came head to head with devastating consequences during one free period.

It was only seventh years free and most were in the sunshine by the Black Lake. The Golden Trio had dragged a snarling Luna to the back of the castle, who conceded when she saw just how empty the quidditch pitch was though she sat away from them, a frown still marring her pretty features.

She'd groaned before the others had even spotted the three Slytherins, the mutters echoing around the Gryffindors as Draco swaggered up to them.

"Still a git then Malfoy?" Ron had said idly as the blonde had the biggest grin splitting his face.

Before he could even answer Blaise butted in with a need to speak to Luna.

"Go away Zabini you do not help my headache. I know nothing about a hex for your stupid disappearances I've got my own problems but no-one seems to care." She snarled, looking up from her book and the tension was palpable as Harry and Hermione looked up to see the blonde Ravenclaw frowning at them.

"Luna?" Harry uncurled himself and watched her in surprise.

"Now you care, I can hear the surprise Harry, just as much as you're freaked out by why you keep dreaming of cats and birds then finding yourself in stupid positions." Luna was starting to break now and tears were starting to pour down her face. Blaise had taken a step back – he didn't do crying females. "Hermione's not going to hug me because she can't work out why when she touches certain people she ends up rolling around in the dirt with them, Pansy is thankful there's only the ground beneath her and nothing for her to fall through, like the steps to the Astronomy Tower, Draco's stupidly happy with himself because he's learnt he can be ridiculously mean to people without even magic now and ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS WHY I CAN HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS!" Luna screamed as she looked around her before running down and away from the shocked collection of people.

"She can hear our thoughts." Blaise murmured and looked in surprise at the retreating figure of the Ravenclaw _again_.

"What does she mean she can hear our thoughts?" The smile had slid off of Draco's face at Luna's outburst. "I'm trained in Occlumency."

"I don't think that matters." Hermione murmured.

"Of course it matters Granger." Draco snarled and before she could flinch or dart away he grabbed her _bare_ wrist.

It happened in nano seconds. He was atop her on the dirt, kips pressed to hers in a bruising kiss, her hands inside his robes tugging his school shirt free from his trousers, hands running greedily over one another's bodies. They ignored the shouts from their best friends as Draco sucked on Hermione's throat, marking her as hers, as her nails scored red marks across his chest.

It was only after Harry and Ron yanked Draco off of Hermione that the spell seemed to break.

"What the fuck did you do to me Mudblood?!" Draco howled as Blaise and Pansy kept a tight grip on his arms.

"ME?!" Hermione scoffed, fingers running over the love bite on her neck and pulling herself upright, feeling the tingle in her body with every movement. "Nice try Malfoy if you can't keep it in your pants, that's nothing to do with me." Both were bright red for humiliation and arousal. It was about now that Pansy wished the ground would swallow her up and to her terror it had started to.

"FUCK!" She screamed and now Blaise and Draco had a sharp hold on her, yanking her free of the ground which looked the same.

"What's happened to all of us?" Harry looked at a deathly pale Pansy, a scarlet Hermione, a furious Draco and a bemused Ron and Blaise. "We all agree that none of this has ever happened before?" There were nods all around. "So whatever it is, it's when we were all together last, Luna included?" Nods again. "Something needs to happen. Hermione you need to look this up." The witch nodded, rearranging her school skirt. "The rest of us need to keep our heads down." Harry was suddenly aware that the others were looking at him odd and he realised he was scratching his ear with his leg. _Again._

"This is getting beyond weird. This needs to be sorted now." Blaise gritted his teeth and pulled Draco and Pansy away towards the castle.


	6. Harry Gets Stuck

A/N: So we hadn't had any Gryffindor action really so HERE WE GO! Enjoy guys :)

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**Harry Gets Stuck**

Harry hadn't wanted to turn into a cat. Harry really wasn't a cat kind of a wizard. He was an owl sort of man, but try telling Ron that who threw a pillow at the _stray cat_ on his best mate's bed.

"Ron It's me stop!" Harry had muttered but sleepy Ron hadn't heard the indignant protests as he scooped the cat up and threw him out of the dorm with an unintelligible, sleep driven mutter.

Cat-Harry was now sat outside in the corridor and incredibly grumpy.

'What now?' He thought to himself as he eyed the door knob and then his paws. No chance of getting in that way. Only Ron was sleeping in so there'd be no-one else to let him in the dorm if he scratched at the door and … _Hermione!_ Yes she'd know what to do.

A jet black cat with bright green eyes dodged ankles on the stairs, hissed when some imbecile (Mclaggen) trod on his tail, scratched at the boy when he kicked at him and darted up to the girl's dormitory. Head-butting the door to mimic knocking he heard Lavender call out.

"Who is it we're not dressed in here?!" Lavender squealed from the other side of the door.

"It's Harry! Is Hermione in there?" The urgency in his voice was intense.

"Harry how did you get up the stairs?" Lavender's footsteps started to thump towards the door.

"You said you weren't dressed, Lavender please! Where's Hermione?!" Harry was almost hissing in frustration.

"She's already gone down to breakfast, Harry are you okay?" The door opened but Lavender saw nothing but a fluffy black tail disappearing down the stairs and no Harry, shrugging the girl turned back in the girls' dorm to get ready.

"Why does the Gryffindor Tower have to be so bloody high?" Harry hissed as he darted down stairs, he did like the agility that came with being a cat; his senses had changed, he could see things clearer, better, it was weird – like his perks and the perks of being a cat had been mingled in this form. Panting he spied Hermione at the breakfast table reading and slipped under the table and jumped onto the bench bumping his head against her elbow.

"Aww hello puss puss, are you the little kitty that Crookshanks has been knocking around with?" Hermione cooed, putting her book down and grabbing a piece of bacon off the table. Before Harry could even reply as a human he was purring; bacon and head scratching the noise resonated from his chest before he remembered he was _human._

"Hermione no it's me! Harry!" He watched in delight, whilst scarfing the bacon, as his best friend screamed softly and moved ten feet down the bench.

"Harry?" She murmured, trying not to look too obvious as she stared at the little black cat in horror. "What happened?" She gaped as he sat back and did the cat version of a shrug.

"I've got no idea but pass down more bacon?" Cat-Harry craned his head, the smells from the table were making his stomach rumble. On auto pilot Hermione cut up sausages and bacon and put them on the bench beside her.

"Well how long have you been like this?" She hissed as he munched his way through the meat.

"I had that dream again last night and well when I woke up I had four paws and a tail!" If cats could give sarcastic looks, the expression adorning Harry's face was the closest it could come to.

"Well have you tried changing back?" Hermione's question was met with the same droll expression.

"Aww what a cute a little cat!" Ginny sat beside her and began to coo at the cat as it jumped. "Is it yours Mione?" The black cat stared at the youngest Weasley and cocked its head. "Do you want some food sweetie?" Harry stepped forward, hearing Hermione's snort as he mimicked a meow as best he could. It convinced Ginny as she began to hand feed the little cat.

"He's a friend of Crookshanks I think. I'm about to go and sort him out."

"He's got eyes just like Harry's." Ginny frowned as Hermione snorted with laughter.

"Oh if only you knew Gin." Hermione laughed before picking up the cat and cradling him against her chest, sniggering as the cat protested and wriggled. "Behave kitty. Let's call you _Harry_." Hermione said in a warning tone and Ginny watched the cat stop protesting and lied limp in her arms before her best friend disappeared outside.

"Harry stop wriggling and just let me take you upstairs to the common room." Hermione hissed through smiling teeth.

"I climbed down these stairs and if you can't help me then what?!" The cat in her arms moved around so he could stare at the witch.

"We'll work it." She said positively as she went against the rush of students into the common room. "Is Ron still in bed?" She looked at the cat in her arms, who gave her a are-you-a-moron look and stared around the busy common room before nodding. "Oh okay. Grumpy bastard." She put the cat down and sent her patronus to wake Ron.

When he eventually came downstairs most of the common room had emptied out, Mclaggen was just escaping the demon black cat who scratched him every time he tried to flirt with Hermione, muttering curses and expletives at the damned animal.

"Thank you Harry." She smiled as the puss jumped onto the sofa beside her.

"Harry? Where's Harry?" Ron yawned and sat heavily before noticing the cat. "That bloody cat! Shoo! Shoo!" He waved his hands at the creature, before frowning at it confused as it gave him an absolutely disgusted look.

"That is Harry." Hermione bit her lip and smirked at Ron's confused face, ignoring his babbling Hermione patiently explained her morning with Harry and the three sat in awkward silence.

"Can we please sort me out?!" Harry yowled from his seat and snickered as Ron jumped three foot in the air.

"Blimey, it really is Harry!" He looked alarmed and edged away from the black cat.

"Harry have you tried imagining yourself as a human again?" Harry nodded at Hermione's question. "Have you tried picturing yourself doing human things?" More nods. "What about the actual transformation process?" No nod.

"I can try."

The look of pure concentration on a cat's face was one of abnormality. Hermione furrowed her brow but there was a soft pop and a very _naked_ Harry was sat on the sofa in front of his two best friends.

"Bloody hell Hermione." Ron flopped back on the armchair as Harry was thankful for the cloak Hermione tossed his way. "What has happened to us?"


	7. A Hidden Treat

A/N: Relatively short chapter. But I thought this little fluffball would be fitting for you BlaisexLuna shippers! Enjoy my lovelies!

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**A Hidden Treat**

The Cupboard. 4th Floor.

Luna was hiding. Again.

She was missing classes. Again.

She was failing. That was a first.

But her head was killing her. She was learning, quickly to zone the voices out. But occasionally her mental wall cracked and the thoughts flooded her brain and drowned her sanity.

But she was in a cupboard away from the majority of classrooms. The hum of brains had muted somewhat but then there was one frantic mind racing past the classroom. It was panicked and scared and despite her own thoughts Luna was still an inherently kind soul.

"Zabini?" She stuck her head out of the corridor but saw nothing. Retreating again she heard him calling her name urgently.

"Luna! LUNA! Tell me you can see me!" She heard his panic stricken voice for the first time. There was no scathing tone, sarcasm, disgust, just pure panic but she saw nothing. She saw the door open again and felt his brain meld against hers.

"Blaise. Please can you relax?! You're giving me a headache!" She yelled and struck out blindly, catching his wrist, his thoughts cleared and she almost screamed at the pain. "BLAISE YOU HAVE TO CALM!"

"You can see me?!" There was relief edging at his thoughts

"No I can hear you! You're killing my head!" She started to cry as it flooded his mind again. She sensed Blaise trying to genuinely calm his thoughts and breathe. "Thank you." She whispered. "Not even the Nargles are giving me a pleasurably fuzzy brain. It's just constant pain." She murmured and her head dropped into her hands, now fighting against Blaise to keep him out of her head.

"Stay out of my head Lovegood…" Blaise hissed, but she heard and saw a bucket overturn of its own accord and it depressed slightly. "Luna." He murmured and the usually quirky blonde turned a tearstained face to where the dark skinned Slytherin's face should be.

"I'd love to stay out of your head Blaise. But whatever little creature's nestled in my brain it won't leave me alone!"

"Luna come here." Blaise pulled her upright and held onto her. For that moment he forgot he was _the_ Blaise Zabini and that he didn't do sentiment. He did girls, he did sex, hot wild sex but emotions were out of Blaise's area of expertise. Something about the blonde little Luna had struck a chord in his cold heart. He held her as she sobbed and for once her brain didn't hurt as her skin touched Blaise's.

"Blaise I didn't mean to scare you. I don't mean to scare anyone intentionally. People just don't understand me." Luna said against a muscled chest. Inside she was silently thankful that she was the mind reader not him. Luna had never felt really attracted to anyone before, she always believed that the ad fornicationem bugs had avoided her but she hardly chased after them. Only they seemed to hover between herself and Blaise. Luna felt herself get hot at the feel of his chest and realised she needed to keep herself calm and opened her eyes to break the illusion.

When she opened her eyes again she saw green.

"Blaise." She murmured. "You're in your pyjamas?" Luna smiled and pulled away slightly, surprised to see a somewhat embarrassed Blaise before recognition dawned on his face.

"You can see me?!" He laughed and looked down at himself. Bingo. Dark green long sleeve top and dark grey checked bottoms and he was barefoot.

"Now you need to get back to the dungeons without being seen." She smiled and felt heat flare in her stomach when he smiled back at her.

"I haven't got any plans and classes are due to kick out." He grinned and sat back down again but the smile faded. "What's happened to us Luna?"

"What do you mean?" She sat opposite him again.

"By us I mean everyone, we've all been given superhuman powers, we've all been shaken up and something up there Luna wants Hogwarts to change." He sighed and looked at his bare toes. "I'd never have been sat here with you, in my pyjamas, in a cupboard."

Luna smiled softly and rested her hand on his. "Things change Blaise. But you don't know how much you've eased my headache." He looked up at her and for a moment there just stared at one another.

But then classes kicked out and he looked away until she whimpered in pain and drew back into the corner. Blaise watched Luna shut herself away; the noise was loud enough to him as the students streamed pass the corridor on their way to lunch, it must be hell for Luna.

He felt the beat of an impulse in his head and cold and calculating Blaise Zabini, dark Knave of Slytherin scooped the fragile blonde Ravenclaw into his arms and watched the pain melt away as he positioned her on his lap. Her head rested on his shoulder and he felt a soft sigh of her breath against his collar bone.

"Thank you Blaise." She whispered and one arm wrapped around his neck.

Blaise hadn't felt at peace for a long time. If you really asked him, he'd tell you the last time he felt peace was when his father hugged him before he died when he was five. Through life and then through the war he'd been on edge and working out how to manipulate people. Now his body eased and sagged against the wall, his arms secured around Luna's waist, his cheek against the top of head.

Blaise was at peace.

Luna was at peace.

ad fornicationem-To fornicate


	8. An Argument

A/N: Okay totally unbeta'd but please point out spelling mistakes to me etc and I will endear to change them for you guys. pretty mixed bunch in this chapter but I simply had to get it published before I enjoy the snow this evening! Enjoy my friends!

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**An Argument... A lot of Arguments**

Hermione had just figured it out. Why she made random people attack her in lust if she touched them. She had recruited Harry, Ginny, Ron, Seamus and Dean in her research. She told the other three it was a potion that had been tested by a friend of Krum's at which Ginny had squealed in delight, excited that Hermione was talking to the Bulgarian again. It was at the point that Ginny was listing off the Seeker's good points that Dean, Ginny's boyfriend gave a rather grumpy cough and the red head fell silent.

"Anyway." Hermione tried to clear the tension now. "It's had a really odd side effect and as a lust potion for me I don't know who it has effected and hasn't. So I've sorted the variables." At Ron's hesitant hand raising. "Yes Ron you do have to be here and if you give me those puppy dog eyes again we will have issues." Ron snorted.

"I wasn't trying to leave. You'd know if I was, you normally let me go now without snapping at me." He grinned. "I was going to ask you to explain variables." He watched Hermione blush with another grin.

"Okay well ideally I need two more females but I don't trust anyone else enough." The Gryffindor shrugged and carried on. "Harry and Seamus you are both half blood males, Ron, pure blood male, Ginny, pure blood female, Dean muggleborn male."

"You think this_ potion_." Harry hesitated on the word. "Has something to do with blood status?"

"I'm out of other ideas." Hermione shrugged again.

"Why did Krum send you a dodgy potion? Why did you take it Mione?" Seamus leant forward.

"Good question." Hermione looked frantically at Harry who looked shell shocked. It was Ron that saved her.

"I spiked her drink with it." Ron smiled lazily, staring at Seamus who seemed to sit back, a glazed look in his eyes briefly before he nodded in agreement.

"Now what then Mione?" Harry asked and at his best friends request they all lined up. First Hermione touched Seamus. Nothing.

"What were the side effects of this potion?" Dean asked hesitantly as his girlfriend bounced lightly on her feet.

"Uncontrollable lust." Hermione whispered and moved onto Harry who smiled at her awkwardly.

"Ah." Dean said nothing and closed his eyes as Hermione pressed her hand to his. Nothing.

When she touched Ginny, Hermione watched Ginny's pupils dilate and she moved back sharply as Ginny growled low in her throat.

"Dean! Kiss her!" Hermione called out as Ginny ran after her and the two girls ran around the Common Room. As Dean grabbed his girlfriend and pressed her to the floor, his lips fighting hers, whatever trance this _potion_ had caused,faded and the heat disappeared from Ginny's eyes. When she stopped kissing Dean she looked awkwardly at Hermione who was breathing hard from running and apologised.

"That was weird. All I could think was I needed to touch you more. Honestly Hermione, I'm straight but I just wanted you." Ginny confessed with a blush. "Try Ron."

"We already did, accidently before." Hermione mumbled. "Thanks guys." She sighed and sat heavily in the armchair.

"So now what Mione?" Seamus looked the tiniest bit disappointed there was no girl on girl action taking place in front of him.

"Honestly I think you should send the potion back to Krum." Harry looked at Hermione's bewildered face.

"Well it clearly only effects purebloods, and Krum's a pureblood. Maybe he's planning a visit and it's so you'll jump his bones or something along those lines?" Dean kept a tight grip on Ginny who nuzzled into his neck, desperately trying to rid her attraction to Hermione still lingering in her system.

"Thanks guys. I think I need to walk and clear my head. Ginny also keeps giving me the eye." Hermione looked sideways at her best girlfriend and smirked. Ginny's response was to flip her the middle finger before kissing Dean softly. Hermione slipped out of the common room, shutting her ears to the whispers that ensued as soon as she stepped out of the doorway and scurried down a corridor.

'Okay. Right Hermione. It's just purebloods.' Hermione wandered the corridors, working her way down from the Gryffindor Tower towards the library. 'You can't avoid purebloods forever, I mean your best friends are! What are you going to do?' Hermione carried on walking she didn't even notice Malfoy trailing her.

The blonde had spotted her as she had flitted through the corridors, now was the best time to try his powers. He's been practising levitating Blaise, who found it hilarious to go invisible halfway through and then promptly attack Draco when the blonde's concentration was broken.

Draco didn't really care what had given him this insane power on top of his own wicked spell-casting, the first thing his mind thought was how to use it to exploit others, how to make sure he caused trouble. Well bewitching first years was entertaining and everything but he was after Granger. Draco hadn't heard Blaise and Pansy's worried conversations as he ranted about Hermione and her toxic touch that made him jump her bones. He hadn't heard them comment about his obsessiveness over the bushy haired brunette, all he'd focused on was putting her right in who was superior and making her beg for him.

Draco slipped into the empty library after the Gryffindor, it was a Saturday, and the only ones ever in here were a handful of Ravenclaws and Granger anyway. Draco followed the lioness to centre of the library and hid as she looked behind her.

Hermione could've sworn someone was behind her, when she saw nobody she put it down to jangled nerves after Ginny jumped her and pondered her next move. Where on earth would she even start with this one? She had no clue where to begin researching this problem and sat down at a table, still unaware that Draco was watching her in the silent library.

From between the bookshelves Draco lifted a fairly small tome and slid it over to the table, making it land with a crash. Hermione screamed and darted away from her chair, wand whipped out. Eyes frantically searching for a perpetrator she yelled.

"PEEVES! IF THIS IS YOU!" She screamed as a much larger book chased her down an aisle. It landed with a thunk on the floor.

"Damn." Draco hissed, she'd moved out of range for him and the book was useless, having skidded along the library floor. Eyes darting around the silent library Draco heard Hermione's wild breathing and smirked. Rounding the corner, a book lifted behind her and tapped lightly up and down on her shoulder. She screamed again and ran. Only Hermione didn't look where she was running and flew headlong into Draco. Landing on his chest she squealed and waited for him to attack her but he looked just as surprised as she did.

"Get off me mudblood." He lifted his hands to push her off him when she yelled at him to stop. The pair of them awkwardly on the floor, Hermione straddling his waist, Draco's hesitant in the air as she looked around them. Thankfully they were alone.

"You can't touch me." She whispered and watched his hands curl into fists. That was it.

"_I CAN'T TOUCH YOU_. Are you kidding me Granger? You're telling me that I'm not allowed to touch you? Try the other way round you filthy little mudblood." Draco had snapped and grabbed Hermione's waist pushing her off of him but as Hermione breathed a sigh of relief that he'd only touched her clothed his hand caught hers and that was it. His light grey eyes darkened and he let out a slow growl.

"Malfoy. Malfoy no!" Hermione scrambled to her feet and started to run, but she watched in horror as the bookcases in front of her started to move, closing her in, blocking her exit and she turned to face a lustful Draco Malfoy who wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips to her throat.

This was her darkest fantasy, having _Draco Malfoy_ take her in the library. Draco Malfoy had always featured in her darkest ones, protecting her and then ravishing her to within an inch of her life. At the time they were far more pleasurable than the idea of Viktor Krum seducing her in the Quidditch lockers. The idea of the Slytherin blonde sent shivers down her spine and as he bit at her neck, whispering dirty nothings into her ear between each nibble Hermione could feel herself liquidating beneath his touch.

The real Draco Malfoy was locked up somewhere in his head, screaming at his body to stop, but Granger's touch had released an animal inside of him, an animal that craved her touch and wanted to see her bare. He felt like he was hammering at a glass window as he watched, through his own eyes, his fingers undoing the mudblood's blouse, working their way down the line of buttons and revealing a pink bra with black lace. Draco heard his own voice growl in appreciation and it was as he heard his voice whisper.

"Very naughty Granger." That Draco stopped fighting the instinct and took control of his body as he slipped his fingers beneath the material.

"Malfooyyyy." The little lioness purred beneath his touch and Draco couldn't believe this was happening but with every touch against her bared skin the desire to run away and shower himself vigorously faded and the lust was taking hold.

"Hermione." He murmured and her name seemed to bring her back from the hazy lust that had taken over. She blinked as his pale fingers toyed with her nipples, she stared around at the bookcases and while his soft lips working their way down her throat to her chest were simply divine she just couldn't. "Aren't you glad I moved those bookcases for you?"

"What? That was you?" She stammered and stared at his predatory grin. Yanking herself away Hermione petrified Draco as she realised he was the one throwing books at her as well and fled from the library.

"Well if it isn't the dirty mudblood?" Pansy growled as Blaise stopped Hermione from leaving.

Hermione opened her mouth for a biting retort but then the two Slytherins watched in alarm as the girl in front of them nearly burst into tears.

"Malfoy is in the library, you need to … free him." Her lip trembled and she ran off again.

"Was her shirt buttoned wrong?" Pansy looked to see the girl disappear around a corner before entering the library. "DRACO?!" She called, ignoring the glare from the librarian who was tutting about moved bookcases. A muffled thump answered their question and both Slytherins saw their friend flat on the floor, still bound in the charm but with a furious glare heating his eyes.

"What did you do to Granger?" Blaise smirked as he finished the spell and Draco's mouth opened in a constant stream of verbal abuse about the bushy haired, dirty blooded little whore. He ignored his best friends as he left the library in a temper and started to look for the girl.

The three ran into a rather serene Luna standing at a doorway of an abandoned classroom. Blaise had to hide a smile as his eyes traced the image in front of him, dedicating it to memory. He did notice the slight frown that quickly smoothed as the three neared. The headaches must still be bad, he decided.

"Move Lovegood." Draco snarled as the blonde Ravenclaw refused to move.

"Hermione is not in here Draco. She went to the Gryffindor Tower in floods of tears." Luna smiled as Draco froze up, he went to grab her shoulders and something deep inside of Blaise bubbled up and without thinking he stopped Draco who sent him a harsh but quizzing glare.

"What happened Lovegood?" Blaise ignored his friend's heated stare.

"Draco knows what he did to her, just as she knows what she did too him. She tried to stop it from happening but his head is just too full of nargles for him to think straight around her. Isn't that right Draco? You don't know what happens when you're around her but you just can't behave like a normal person, you either attack her verbally or…" Draco had drawn his wand on the Ravenclaw who was smarter and faster than him, her own wand out and the pair were facing off. Well Luna never looked like she was duelling anybody, her face still held the same serene and dreamy expression.

"Draco leave it." Blaise tugged on his friend's arm and with Pansy's help they dragged the furious boy back to the dungeons, both ignoring his spitting comments and scathing statements, his rants about Granger and Lovegood. Blaise tightened his grip whenever 'blood traitor, Ravenclaw freak,' came up in conversation.


	9. The Unexpected

A/N: As per it's not been beta'd so forgive the errors but please tell me if they niggle you and I will endeavour to change them with haste... Anyway! This challenge is awesome and every update I publish it and then I'm like I haven't added about the creator of this fab challenge and her equally fab story of it: Is it a Gift or A Curse? Ms Louis Cordice Zabini! Honestly from the same challenge they are fairly different fics, I implore you to read hers! Thanks guys!

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**The Unexpected.**

Pansy had landed herself detention again. It wasn't her fault she kept falling out of her chair. More precisely sliding through her chair but Snape hadn't believed her and had given her detention for it.

Snape had also given Potter detention. Snape didn't know that Harry had actually attended lessons, he'd just been a rather terrified dormouse at the time. A dormouse that realised just how many rodents had been pickled in the specimens on Snape's shelves. Hermione had taken him to lessons in her robes pocket but this only made it worse when Snape asked Harry if he had any idea what lesson plan he had missed and Harry had told him in detail.

Snape had told him he was a smart arse, took ten points from Gryffindor, five from Harry five from Hermione for giving the boy her notes and told Potter he had detention.

The Slytherin and the Gryffindor arrived promptly at eight outside the Dungeon door and knocked politely, the pair of them scowling at one another then pointedly ignoring each other as well.

Snape had called them in and pointed to a pile of about 15 cauldrons, the crusted insides wafting a rather poisonous smell and with a sneering grin Snape had handed them two plastic masks for their faces, two scrubbing brushes and pails of water and two pairs of rubber gloves.

"Get started. If you haven't finished by ten you will come back tomorrow and finish them. Understood?" The two nodded and the professor left the room with a sweep of black robes.

"Brilliant." Pansy sighed as she snapped on her rubber gloves, watching Harry as he pulled off his robes and joined her on the floor. "This is so stupid, I didn't even fall off my chair on purpose! I keep sliding through them." She grumbled and plunged her scrubbing brush into the soapy water and then began working at the first cauldron. "Oh god that stinks!" She yelled and realised she'd forgotten her mask, looking at it on the floor in dismay then looking at her grime encrusted hands and sighed.

"Would you like a hand Parkinson?" Harry asked and watched the surprise, then suspicion flicker across her face.

"Why would you help Pothead?" She put the brush down and looked at him warily.

"So we can both get this finished tonight and not have to deal with each other tomorrow. I also have an upset Hermione to deal with, it's not like Ron and Ginny can help." Harry went scarlet realising he'd said too much so repeated his offer to Pansy. She nodded and said thank you through the plastic before he slipped his own mask over his head, grabbed the brush and started working away at the cauldrons.

"What's happened to Granger?" Pansy asked, desperate to appear nonchalant as she worked away at a rather disgusting purple stain.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Harry said stiffly and his scrubbing got more deranged as he finished his sentence.

"I never thought I'd see the day that Harry Potter skipped a class." Pansy didn't know why she was being nice to Potter but a small part of her realised she was tired of trying to keep her own body weight from falling through things that she didn't have the energy to fight the Gryffindors' anymore.

"I didn't. Hermione didn't give me her notes, I was in the class. I was in her pocket." He went bright red again and Pansy had to silence the part of her that went 'aawww' at his reddened cheeks and focus.

"What do you mean her pocket?" Pansy righted her first cauldron, the inside sparkling clean and started on her second.

"I was a dormouse." He whispered and ducked his head down to the cauldron before standing it up and moving onto the next one. This time Pansy couldn't stop herself, she did 'Aww' out loud before realising what she said and her blush matched Harry's.

"So what do you mean?" She asked, her eyes trained on a persistent mark.

"By what? That I was dormouse, that I was a little Dormouse."

"No what's happened with Granger and Draco." Pansy had never felt so relaxed – this was not what did, she was a pureblood catch with great marriage options despite her part in the war, she did not scrub or clean and usually wheedled her way out of detentions but here was relaxed and working while chatting to _Harry Potter_. Not only was she talking to Pothead without an insult (okay maybe a few) but she was enjoying herself far more than she ever did antagonising him and his two little sidekicks.

"Why, what's happened to Malfoy?" Harry looked up in interest, caught the Slytherin's eye and looked hastily back down again to his cauldron.

"Well since Granger smacked him one in third year he's always had issues with her, knowing that she's a …" Pansy's lips stopped before _mudblood_ could get out, gauging Potter's reaction who'd frozen in apprehension. "Muggleborn, but also that she does better than him in almost anything and he just can't handle it. Normally he just rants, insults and gets it out of his system but whatever happened last time has really worked him up." She righted the cauldron and took the next one again. The rhythm of scrubbing had soothed them both past any hostilities.

"I was gonna say I know Malfoy winds Mione up most of the time but she downright refuses to say, if we see you guys in the corridor she makes sure it goes Ron, me, her between her and Malfoy. I was hoping you'd shed light on it."

A silence fell and Pansy and Harry looked at one another.

"It's something to do with our new talents isn't it?" Pansy sat back on her haunches and looked across the stinking pile of metal to the bespectacled boy. He nodded and chewed his lip thoughtfully.

"What do you know of Blaise's powers and Draco's?" Harry asked and replaced his brush back into the bucket.

"Blaise has invisibility but like you and I he can't control it, he blinkers between being seen and not being seen. As far as I know he's in detention with McGonagall because he keeps flashing up in classes. Draco has telekinesis… that's the muggle word for it right?"

"He can move things with his mind?" Harry desperately wanted to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose but one smell of the gloves and he suffered in silence. Pansy nodded. "Oh no. Hermione's power appears to be one that only affects purebloods…" At his hesitation, Pansy's brow furrowed. "It's a very sexual power, any contact of bare skin with her and a pureblood… male or female and the pair are rolling around in the dirt together… like her and Draco did"

"By the quidditch pitch." Pansy finished for him.

"That explains a bit of Hermione's nightmare." Harry stretched before plunging his hand back into the bucket and scrubbing furiously.

"Are you going to tell me?" Pansy snapped as the infuriating boy.

"We're never going to get these finished in 45 minutes… we've only done seven." He toppled the next cauldron from the pile and began again. "Hermione's dream was bookcases moving and someone chasing her, she was screaming at them to stop but whoever it was never did stop. Somehow I think that someone is Malfoy." Harry said grimly and scrubbed harder than before, he was furious that Malfoy took advantage of his best friend, but his more rational side also knew how potent Hermione's talent clearly was.

"You think? You think Draco tried to sexually assault her?!" Pansy's voice rose in pitch and Harry's head snapped up to see the furious girl stripping her mask off.

"Not quite. I think … You're not going to like what I'm thinking." Harry said now studiously ignoring the Slytherin girl who had marched over to him and was standing over him, hands on her hips. Her expression threatened pain unless he explained. "I think Mione's …talent…as you put it unleashed something locked in Malfoy, like the pureblood thing anyway, you said he's always had a fixation with her and he wanted her. It's what her talent does… she makes the purebloods want her, to devour her whole and Malfoy clearly tried to do just that. But there's too much pain in Mione to actually let herself enjoy Malfoy because of how much he hurt her. She still carries the scars." He reminded Pansy whose anger had deflated like a balloon, Harry was unused to the silent girl, the brooding look on her face and she sat back down without a word.

They remained in silence and just as Harry was on his sixth.

"Harry." Pansy said suddenly looking up but it was at that moment that Snape swept in, saw the three cauldrons left, sneered and dismissed them. The pair said nothing now outside the Dungeon, the bubble that had been created by the isolation of the two of them had vanished with the arrival of Snape. Now it was Parkinson vs. Potter, Slytherin vs. Gryffindor and the chasm seemed too big to even attempt to bridge.

Harry walked towards the Gryffindor tower without even looking back.


	10. New Friends & Old Arguments

A/N: Oh my! My greatest apologies you wonderful people but real life dictated I leave this for a heinously long time before being able to complete my tenth chapter. I am on my way to working out the ending for this delightful series. Other than that I can offer nought but my apologies (for the grammar as well un-beta'd), the delay and provide you with this chapter.

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**New Friends & Old Arguments**

Ron was annoyed. He was sick of having to avoid Mione. He didn't realise how often he was touching her these days, he was over his crush on her, thank god but it was horrible having to keep avoiding her.

Ron was also pissed because EVERYONE seemed to have powers except him! He was becoming more and more moody and was driving people away.

Except _her_ he wasn't driving _her_ away, in fact she was the only one talking to the miserable bastard.

Astoria Greengrass watched Ron as he snoozed under an oak tree in the sun. She smiled softly, tucking a dark lock of hair behind her ear and pulled her uniform into place, slightly open at the neck, tie slightly skewed, robes tucked away, skirt up a little higher.

Her sister Daphne watched this shrewdly, she could see her sister preening but who for? There was a couple of Hufflepuffs scattered around the grounds, Weaslebee under the tree… maybe it was for Draco round the corner? But no, Daphne watched, almost in horror and shock as her sister made a beeline for the red head blood traitor.

Daphne waited, just to see if her sister was practising her insults on the annoying little weasel but she didn't! Astoria sat beside the Gryffindor and started to talk. Daphne could hear her sister laugh, and see her lean into the Weasley.

Ron had spied the older Greengrass looking mutinously at the pair of them and frowned, he couldn't deal with this as well. If Astoria was choosing to be with him that was fine with him and should be fine with her sister. His frown deepened as Daphne started to storm their way but as his frustration mounted she seemed to stop half way, with a slight puzzled air and walked off in the other direction. Ron was confused briefly but that didn't matter to him, Astoria soon gained his attention again and he felt himself relax for the first time since the storm and that fateful detention.

Draco hadn't felt this guilty since he ate Blaise's expensive Italian chocolate. Well that or the sickness then had been over indulgence. But now every time he spied Granger a strange churning would appear in his stomach, he felt horrible as she tried to avoid him. He thought about it; at first he thought she was embarrassed about what had happened between them but when he caught her staring at him, he saw terror in her dark brown eyes and was shocked to feel a wash of shame run through his system.

This feeling, every time he noticed her thick curly hair in the corridor or heard her laugh with Potter or Longbottom intensified and Draco was alarmed to realise he felt the need to apologise to her.

But he'd do it in his usual fashion.

The Library. Not the best place for a reconciliation considering it was here … they'd well… whatever had happened between them, but he needed to apologise, maybe then he'd feel normal and be able to go back to his usual swaggering self with the bonus ability of wandless telekinesis (muggle word but what the hell it fitted his powers quite nicely).

He spotted her at the table and was about to tap her on the shoulder when he remembered the disastrous consequences of touching her last time.

"Granger." He coughed and watched (only with a small amount of satisfaction) as she jumped at his voice.

"Malfoy..." She stuttered and turned to face him before shying away from him.

"Can I sit? I think we need to talk." He raised an eyebrow, he was on his best behaviour but the Gryffindor princess was scared of him – something he'd wanted since she'd first snubbed him and now it made him uncomfortable and sad.

"Erm I suppose so. You tend to do what you like anyway." Her tone was acidic, Hermione was defensive. She hadn't stopped playing their last encounter in her head – she hadn't minded the activity between them, but what had stopped her in her tracks was the sheer thought of him overpowering her, terrifying her as he had done with the books and bookcases. It blackened the memory in her daydreams of the delicious things he had done to her body but in her dreams the terror had faded leaving a sensual Draco Malfoy eliciting noises from her. She stared hard at the blonde as he sat opposite her, schooling her expression into one of indifference with a slither of anger shining out of her eyes, she hid the desire, she hid the fear and she watched his reaction.

"I'm … Sorry Granger… Hermione. What I did was wrong, I shouldn't have scared you the way I did." Draco couldn't believe that he'd apologised so quickly, but there was something about her radiance, anger sparkling in her features that made him quick to utter words he usually abhorred.

She looked startled and her mask slipped briefly, showing the surprise, the fear and something else lurking at the back that Draco couldn't quite identify.

"Then I suppose…Draco… I'll forgive you. It wasn't entirely your fault, whatever the additional bonuses we were given, mine clearly has more of an effect on you." She shrugged and dipped her quill into her ink pot, carrying on her scribbling.

"That's it?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "You're just going to forgive me? For everything I've done to you."

"Oh no, there's still that but… well I can't have this conversation here or with you." She hissed and looked around at the half filled library room.

"What? Why not?" Then a smirk spread across Draco's face, he leant over to her and whispered so close to her bare skin, breathing in the combination of apple and mint. "You enjoyed it." He snickered and she drew back violently.

"Goodbye Malfoy." She threw her bag across her shoulder and stood up to leave.

"See you soon Granger." He called back.

Hermione walked out of the library and straight into Harry.

"Harry! Just the person I need to talk to. Where's Ron?"

"That's why I was coming to find you, Daphne Greengrass is blowing up a storm, apparently Ron and her sister Astoria have been getting far too friendly." Harry laughed at Hermione's shocked face.

"He managed it? He actually managed to get over himself and ask her out?" Hermione sniggered and the pair watched, soon joined by Draco at the noise as Daphne Greengrass stormed towards the library. Catching sight of Potter and Granger she flew towards them in a temper and shouted obscenities at them.

"MAKE IT STOP MUDBLOOD! Get that filthy blood traitor away from my sister! He doesn't deserve to be licking the mud from our boots and yet there he was with his arm wrapped around her." Daphne snarled and her bare fist came dangerously close to smacking Granger's pretty, bare face. Hermione immediately took a step back, straight into Malfoy. Without even thinking he put his hands onto her arms to push her away. Only today she wasn't wearing robes, she was in a t-shirt.

Hermione felt the warmth of his hands seep into her arms briefly before the electric fizzle for of desire tore through her. Draco spun her around in his arms and pressed his lips to hers. The pair ignored Daphne's extreme outburst, they didn't register Astoria and Ron coming down the stairs hand in hand, Hermione barely registered anything except the press of his body against hers or the soft feeling of his hands cupping her butt.

"What is wrong with the world?!" Daphne screamed, her increasing pitch gathering a small crowd, Blaise and Pansy were part of the crowd and spotted Draco and Hermione in the alcove of the library. Blaise knew that once Draco…eventually came to his senses he's need as little publicity as possible.

"DAPHNE! Take his outside. Go now." He herded her and the crowd into the sunshine, where the argument would draw a bigger crowd, hopefully Draco would have the sense to take it somewhere more private.

"Draco. I hate to break your little moment, but move somewhere else now. Or conceal yourselves." Pansy hissed and followed the crowd outside, occasionally passing through the odd student.

"Draco, she's right…" Hermione moaned as the blonde's hand snaked towards her breasts. "We need to move, somewhere else. The library…ohh…alcove isn't … oh my… right…" When this tactic didn't appear to work Hermione switched, pressed her lips to his neck and biting softly before whispering. "There are far more positions we can manage if we're on a bed." Without warning he wrenched himself away from her and Draco took off, hand intertwined with Hermione's back to the Slytherin dungeons.


	11. The Snakes & The Lions

A sort of smutty chapter – if you want proper details then you have to review my wonderful people (Blackmail at its best). Other than that please enjoy this little installment. I am nearly drawing to a close. Almost

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**The Snakes and the Lions**

In their second year Harry and Ron had infiltrated the Slytherin Dungeons to interrogate Malfoy on the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione hadn't made it. She'd had a fluffy face, whiskers and a tail. She'd never been inside the Slytherin Common Room and Draco didn't give her a chance to take a proper look around. With a firm grasp on her hand he yanked her into his dorm room, locked the door and barred any unwanted guests with a flick of his wand. He'd left her standing by his bed when he checked the door and he turned to face her with a feral look in his eye. A look that Hermione matched.

Draco smiled at her, the predatory grin making Hermione's knickers dampen just that little bit more and she bit her lip in anticipation.

Now he wasn't touching her, the lust faded just enough for his conscious thought to knock into his head. _Did he really want this?_ He looked at her again and growled, she'd tugged off her school jumper, her blouse had the top two buttons undone and her hands hovered over the zip of her skirt. _Yes, yes he bloody did._

"On the bed Granger." He ordered softly, his voice making her shiver.

"Make me…Malfoy." She growled back, defying him still and yet the smile that spread across his face was one of danger and yet sheer lust. So he did, he'd been practicing his power on Blaise who was a lot taller and heavier than Hermione so flipping her onto the bed with his mind was fairly easy.

He watched in amusement the surprise on Hermione's face as without wizarding magic Draco tossed her onto the bed without moving from his spot by the door.

"That's not fair." She gasped as his bed sheets wound around her wrist and then the headboard. "Come here." She tugged at the bonds and smirked as Draco complied with her. "Undo me." She whispered as his hands roamed over her bared flesh. She watched the lust snap into his eyes and the heat rocketed in her stomach as his hands tore at the bed sheets, his mouth everywhere at once while Hermione's nails raked down his back.

She liked her power an awful lot, it made the naughtiest student in Hogwarts her personal sex slave, a man who craved her body and delighted in pleasuring her to the point of exhaustion. Nobody came back to the Slytherin Dorms until the pair was thoroughly worn out and hoarse from screaming one another's names.

It wasn't until dinner that Hermione snuck out from the dungeons back to the Gryffindor Tower to comb her hair and put on a clean uniform and it was about then they both started to think. Dangerous.

It suddenly dawned on her she had just slept with her number one enemy, but she couldn't bring herself to hate it, to regret what she had just done because it had been fantastic, the positions that Malfoy and her had bent one another into was still making her hot and bothered and quite ready for a …ohh… thirtieth round.

Draco was going through the same sort of mind processes, it was a fading thought that she was a mudblood and beneath him, but the vision of her completely naked and his to touch, kiss and caress was the more prominent thought. It made him harden again and made Draco crave her all over again, he wanted to see that bushy brown hair spread out on his pillows while he fucked her senseless, he wanted to leave brilliant love bites over her throat so she knew she was his, and most importantly he wanted her to scream his name so he was reminded just who he belonged to … No. He didn't belong to her, she was inferior to him but Draco couldn't bring himself to truly believe that anymore. One passionate (but extensive) afternoon with Granger and he was like a little puppy yearning to be entertained. Ohh Granger could entertain him any day of the week and he'd die happy.

"Damn it." He cursed to himself, looking at his clock seeing he was too late to join dinner and the tenting in his trousers would be a bit of a giveaway. 'Brilliant' He hissed to himself before undoing his school trousers again and palming his hardened length, Draco lost his reality to the memories of the afternoon with the Gryffindor Princess.

Hermione had disappeared to the kitchens in order to feed herself after dinner but absence was not major news in the Great Hall that dinner time; that would be Ron and Astoria.

Harry was doing the best he could to stop Ron from getting angry but it was when Daphne stormed up to him later, just as dinner ended to give him a piece of her mind that Ron lost it.

"How dare you?! You filthy blood traitor, even think you are worthy of the Greengrass bloodline, you are nothing more than a poor little weasel living in a squalid little house. You think you even deserve to be breathing the same air as me and my sister…" Daphne let loose in the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Shut it. Now. Daphne." Ron had snarled, his hand linking through Astoria's as she stood with hi, defiantly facing up to her angry sister. "Take a long walk off the Astronomy Tower." The fury that soaked his voice must've shocked Daphne into silence because with that strange frown on her face, her mouth hanging open she left without another word.

"Ron, are you okay?" Harry murmured as the crowd started to disperse, a slight hum of whispers and comments at the Gryffindor and Slytherin whose hands were still intertwined. Ron said nothing, or didn't hear Harry as Astoria started to pull away.

"I need to go see if she's okay Ron, she's my sister." Astoria's dark eyes shining with unshed tears, she hated conflict, especially between herself and sister – she was all she had while her parents were Death Eater crazy.

"No, Ria she'll be fine, stay with me." Ron wheedled and Harry only just noticed, the same faraway look enter Astoria's eyes as it had with her sister and without another complaint, she came back to Ron, allowing him to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her in close before disappearing outside.

As Harry re-entered the Gryffindor Tower, Hermione followed with a plate of cupcakes.

"Really Hermione, sweets?" Harry raised an eyebrow at her unusual behaviour, as the daughter of two very conscientious dentists she usually had sugar free.

"What can I say, I need the energy?" She grinned and carried on walking in. Groaning in disgust at the images that volleyed through his mind Harry pulled her to the side.

"I need to talk to you about Ron." Harry whispered as they headed to the far corner of the common room.

"Why what's up? Is he still grumpy? About the whole _powers_ thing?" Hermione momentarily forgot her cupcakes.

"That's the thing, I don't think Ron was missed out of the powers thing, I think his are just far more complicated." Harry explained what he had seen with Astoria and Daphne, explaining his own feelings when Ron had argued against him and watched Hermione's face flicker into recognition.

"Oh my." She groaned and pushed the plate of cupcakes at him before running upstairs to her room. She was back in a heartbeat with her Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Ignoring Harry's look of disgust at her reading material she flicked through it until she found the section she was look for and thrust the book at Harry whilst taking back her cupcakes.

"You think Ron has powers like Jasper has from _this_?!" Harry hissed and dropped the book back into Hermione's hand when he finished.

"Yes I do, he can clearly manipulate people into whatever he wants." Hermione finished her cupcakes and dusted her hands free of crumbs

"How strong do you reckon these powers are?" Harry said suddenly.

"Not sure why?"

"The last thing he said to Daphne Greengrass was take a long walk off the Astronomy Tower."

Hermione's face fell into worry and the pair wordlessly fled from the Tower down to the Slytherin Dungeons.

Smashing on the wall with her hand a hissing voice emanated from the stone.

"You are Gryffindor … leave Lionsssss."

"I need to speak to Draco Malfoy. NOW!" She yelled and ignored the hissing laugh.

"Why should I help two little lion cubs so far from home?" The menace made Harry whip out his wand and threaten the wall with a good old fashioned 'bombarda' spell. The wall laughed again and in a vent of frustration Hermione screamed.

The wall opened and Blaise popped his head out.

"What the fuck is going on out here?!" He snarled as Pansy's head also appeared.

"Where's Daphne?" Harry ignored Blaise's anger.

"She said she felt like a walk in the Astronomy Tower. I let her go after the day she had." Pansy shrugged and was joined by Draco, all three culminated outside of the hissing wall.

Hermione and Harry looked at each other in horror and without another word took off towards the Tower, closely followed by a bemused Draco, Blaise and Pansy.


	12. Discoveries

A/N: The latest instalment thank you to all my beautiful reviewers you make me smile so much. Thank you.

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**Discoveries**

"Explain what's going on!" Pansy puffed as they ran up flights of stairs.

"Can't explain, it's only just a hunch." Hermione panted as they climbed flight after flight of stairs, bombing trap doors out of the way with magic. "Harry turn into a bird or something and get up there faster!" Hermione ducked from the debris of the last trap door.

"What do you think I am? A circus animal?" Harry gasped for air as the group reached the astronomy tower.

There, sure enough was Daphne standing on one of the rails of the balcony, the same dreamy look on her face.

"DAPHNE!" Pansy screamed but it only made Daphne hesitate before climbing up another rung on the balcony. The group rushed forwards and Blaise and Draco grabbed the young woman's arms and yanked her back as she started to climb over the rails.

"Daphne stop!" Blaise ordered shaking her shoulders but the expression didn't leave her face.

"Weasley said take a long walk off the Astronomy Tower and so far I've only had a short walk." She pouted, staring but not quite seeing the strange mix of students around her.

"Daphne." Draco soothed and tried to make her see him but it didn't work, her gaze flickered from his face to the balcony and a look of determination came into her eyes. Draco lunged for Daphne as she ran back to the rails and it was as if something possessed her as the brunette ran for the balcony rail once again. She dodged Pansy, pushed Harry away and hissed at Blaise when grabbed her arm and yanked her back. Daphne held steadfastly onto the railing and kept babbling about "Weasley." "Walking" and "Astronomy Tower."

"What has Weasley done to her!?" Blaise yelled as he tugged at her arm, he was the only thing keeping her in place from launching herself over the railing to her certain death.

"We have a theory." Harry grunted as he joined Blaise in keeping a sharp hold on Daphne who was yowling like an alley cat. Pansy had a hold of one ankle, Draco the other while Blaise and Harry wrestled with the feisty Slytherin's waving arms and scratching nails. She lashed out at Harry who dodged her nails with an instinctive dip of the head while Blaise received four scratch marks across his cheek before a well-aimed spell of Hermione's froze Daphne in place.

"We need Ron." Hermione said as Blaise and Draco awkwardly carried her frozen form down the stairs. Pansy was in tears as she and Harry brought up the rear and awkwardly Harry laid his hand on her shoulder, somewhat surprised as she curled into him and sobbed. He stopped walking down the countless set of stairs and held the strange Slytherin girl for a few moments while Pansy gathered herself together.

"Come on we need to catch the others up, are you going to be okay?" Harry held Pansy by the shoulders and looked deep in her eyes. She nodded and the pair carried on, hurrying to catch up with the odd rabble.

None of the others noticed Pansy and Harry silently rejoining their group as they carried on their strange journey. It was only when they were one flight before the main hallways that Hermione stopped them, careful not to touch Draco or Blaise and turned to look at them with a bemused expression on her face.

"Does anyone actually know where Ron is? If we presume he's with Astoria…" She looked down towards the floor, indicating the Slytherin Common Room.

"He's not there, I share my dorm with Astoria and she's not been there all night." Pansy shook her head firmly.

"Well then where would he go?" Draco snapped tired of holding up a solid Daphne.

"How are we supposed to know? Ron's been avoiding us for days." Harry burst back and saw Hermione staring rather pointedly at his arm around Pansy's shoulders. He didn't retract instead he just raised an eyebrow back.

"I have an idea, give me a moment. I'll be right back." Blaise said suddenly, propping Daphne against Draco who grumbled at the weight before disappearing.

o.o.o.o.o

"Astoria." Ron nuzzled the shell of her ear, ecstatic to hear her giggle. His lips pressed to her throat and her giggle slipped into a breathy moan.

Ron said nothing as he nibbled at her soft porcelain skin, his fingers trailing down the other side of her throat, hovering above the first button of her blouse when there was a polite cough. Irritated instantly with this new intruder, especially as Astoria gave a small squeak and scooted away from him, Ron hissed and turned to face the irritating person.

"Luna." He snapped and watched the dreamy look in her eyes as she took in Astoria's blushing face.

"Ronald, Hermione and Harry require your presence as quickly as possible."

"Tell them I'll be twenty minutes." He snapped and Luna felt this strange urge in her brain but she shook it off, her mental walls were a lot stronger now.

"I'd rather Ronald you came with me now. Do not make me explain it in front of Astoria." Luna was silently willing Ron not to make a show of himself and she heard the cogs turn in his brain.

_Damn Mione and Harry, the closest I get to Astoria without being interrupted and they send Lovegood to come and get me._ She heard the ire in his thoughts and snickered to herself.

_Oh my God, I was actually making out with Ron Weasley. Sweet Salazaar Daphne will kill me. Mother will kill me, Father will really kill me._ Astoria's brain was in a flurry all of a sudden, away from Ron's caramel whispers and hypnotic eyes.

"Ronald, let's go." Luna snipped, hearing Astoria's mental surprise at her commanding tone, echoed in Ron's head as the red head stood up and followed the skipping blonde. The pair reconvened with Blaise at the foot of the stairs who silently beckoned them up.

"Where's Astoria?" Pansy said worriedly before Ron could question the strange nature of the rabble.

"We left her to go back to her common room." Luna said dreamily before drifting to Blaise's side.

"Ron, you're not as powerless as you think." Hermione started, frowning when he scoffed, a disbelieving expression pasted on his face.

"You do Weasley." Draco said and tactfully ignored the mutter of disgust from Ron. "You can manipulate people's thoughts and feelings."

"You're lying to me. What for?! Is this over Astoria? Can you not handle that I've nabbed her Malfoy?" Ron spat and started to leave but Harry forcibly stopped him as Hermione's hand snatched out but hovered before she touched him.

"Ronald Weasley you listen to me." She snapped and finished the spell on Daphne who wordlessly turned and started to climb the steps again. "Greengrass where are you going?" She called as Ron watched on confused.

"Weasley told me to walk off of the Astronomy Tower." She said dreamily and carried on walking up the stairs.

"Greengrass stop right there!" Ron said in a panic and the brunette froze into place. "Holy shit." He whispered, his gaze frantically flickering to each face in the group, each as stunned as him. "Daphne turn around." She did so. "Wake up Daphne." Suddenly the girl in front of him blinked and stared around at the group.

"What the fuck are we all doing on the stairs?!" She hissed in confusion then stared at Ron and her gaze narrowed. "YOU! Stay away from my sister." She growled and was shocked when Draco stood between them.

"Go back to the Dungeons Daph, we'll sort Ron out." He gestured at Blaise and Pansy who nodded and with an irritated snarl she disappeared.

"We need to talk about your powers Weasley." Pansy snapped. "You nearly killed your crush's big sister." She said sarcastically as the colour drained from Ron's face.

"Look I'm out of here. Granger and Potter can sort Weasley out. I need to hit the kitchen." Blaise yawned and wandered off, Luna faded away of her own accord while Pansy and Draco disappeared to find Astoria and see if she was okay. Harry and Hermione dragged a babbling and shocked Ron back to the Gryffindor common room to deal with this new addition.

.o.o.o.

Luna skipped down towards the kitchens, following Blaise's faint brain patterns as he longed for food and she snuck behind him, feeling him stop as he remembered the correct method to access the kitchens. She couldn't see him, he was perfecting his talent like she was but thanks to hers she could work out roughly where he was and grabbed him with surprising strength.

Luna yanked him into the nearest alcove, giggling at his colourful words which simmered at the realisation it was Luna. He flickered back into vision with a look of passion on his face as his wand illuminated the darkness.

"Miss Lovegood. That was not a smart move. You do not tempt a Slytherin into a dark corner, they are highly unscrupulous." He grinned and without a sound he extinguished the light and leapt towards her, growling her name as she squealed and laughed in delight.


	13. Alcoves & Dormitories

A/N: Thought I'd start with a naughty bit while I work out my little plot bunnies! I know this has been more than a week but honestly you got two chapters very fast last time...? Forgive me? Anyway this is a much shorter chapter but I think the M content gives me a little leeway while I work out what I want done with this one! Anyway my lovelies review for me please!

**M content straight off!**

* * *

**Alcoves & Dormitories **

Luna's giggle faded into a moan that set Blaise's blood on fire. His nose traced from behind her ear down her throat to the skin revealed by an open top button. In the hollow of her throat he pressed his lips to the pale skin and sucked softly, only enough to leave a small red mark before he skimmed up the other side of her neck.

"Blaise." Luna crooned feeling her mind melt with his as his fingers also traced blazes of fire across her bare arms towards the buttons of her blouse. She mirrored his actions except his shirt was already undone, leaving his dark skin vulnerable to Luna's soft touches. Blaise bit back a moan as the pads of her fingers ran over his chest, she marvelled at how good he felt beneath her fingertips and suddenly the soft grazing teases were not enough. Without warning Blaise covered them with a wordless spell and pulled Luna up, her legs naturally wrapping around his waist as they had done briefly before.

"Luna. Can we?" He whispered, desperate to feel her as his fingers felt for the catch on her bra. Unsnapping with ease, he pressed her back against the stone wall and ran his fingertips around the front of her body. Luna's mind was reeling, while she was a quick academic she was slow with the physical. She could feel and hear the begging need in his body; she felt his erection sitting at her core and could hear his mind pleading with her. She knew they'd never make it to anywhere horizontal and the Slytherin brought out a delicious dark side in the whimsical blonde.

"Yes Blaise." She drew his name out in a moan as his lips caught her nipple, she moaned again as he chuckled against her skin. He slowly unwound her legs from his back much to her chagrin, which Luna voiced with a disappointed whimper but as his fingers ran up her inner thigh her mind blanked out. Blaise watched with a mixture of amusement and lust as her eyes shuttered closed, her mouth opened slightly and her legs spread for his touch. There were so many positions Blaise wanted to bend her into but for now he had to will his body into just one in the cramped alcove.

Blaise snapped the flimsy lace away and was amused to see it was Slytherin green but he was distracted by Luna's aching whimper at his loss. Shimmying out of his trousers Blaise lifted her again, his wand in his hand and after a quick contraception spell it fell with a clatter to the floor.

Luna was made for his body, that's all he could think as she slid onto his length. The moan that slipped from her mouth made him nearly see stars but with a death grip on his stamina Blaise shifted his hips in tandem with hers. Luna made him lose whatever control he had relatively quickly, something about this angelic blonde rendered his cool void and he was no longer the Slytherin poster boy of sex but was reduced to the nervous 13 year old he once was.

"Fuck Luna." He ground out, slamming his hand against the stone as she tightened around him.

"Blaise." Her nails dug half crescents into his shoulders, her eyes close her mouth opened as her climax neared but Blaise couldn't stop himself from kissing her. He broke the rhythm and dragged her away from her finish but he didn't care at that moment.

At that moment life was pretty damn perfect with her lips on his and her body wrapped around his, but then he felt that feeling at the base of his spine and flicked his hips into hers again. He watched with a grin as Luna's eyes widened open in surprise before she cried out in pleasure.

o.o.o.o.o

While Blaise and Luna were reacquainting themselves with one another Pansy had found Astoria being berated by Daphne.

"He's scum Tori! You hated him so much what the fuck happened?!" She looked incredulous for the most part as Astoria carried on ignoring her older sister and kept reading, her head down. She ignored the hot prickle of tears behind her eyes and was grateful when Pansy and Draco walked in.

"Back off Daph." Pansy stood between the sisters and eyeballed the eldest.

"What the fuck has it got to do with you Parkinson?!" Daphne shrieked.

"You made it our problem when you decided to have this conversation in front of the whole of the common room. Piss off Daphne." Pansy stood, hands on her hips and before the older Greengrass could say another word Pansy took Astoria's hand and pulled her up to the dorm. On the way back to the Slytherin common room, both Draco and Pansy had decided not to tell Astoria about their powers, especially not Ron's, it was his job to tell her.

"What's going on Pans?" Astoria said tearfully watching her friend sit on the bed beside her and pull her into a hug.

"Honestly?" Pansy said to the top of the younger girl's head. "I have not a fucking clue."

"I'm going crazy, I shouldn't be wanting the Weasel. I should want someone like Draco or something, a pureblood not a blood traitor." Astoria sniffed and watched the emotions on her friend's face through a film of tears.

"I can't tell you who you can and can't like. Clearly the Weasel is special in some form or another." Astoria wouldn't understand the hint that was transparent in Pansy's words but Pansy shook her head at the confusion adorning her best friend's face. "Let's go to sleep Ria, things can only get better tomorrow."

How wrong Pansy was.


	14. A Terrible Discovery

A/N: I am so awfully sorry but this chapter would just not work with me. I wrote it over three different times with three completely different turns of events and none of them sat well with me. It just didn't feel right and I refused to update with a weak chapter. But finally this is done. It's a bit of a cliffie for which you can leave me copious amounts of hate in my inbox and reviews (it's fine you're allowed) but I hope you like this LONG AWAITED chapter and leave a little review to tell me I haven't failed you all.

Many thanks and don't forget to be checking out the "sister" story of this one and the origin of the challenge; Ms. Louis Cordice Zabini, "Is it a Gift or A Curse?"

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**A Terrible Discovery**

Pansy was wrong, when she woke the next morning she looked over to her best friend's bed only it was empty, and unmade. Astoria was a neat-freak but everything was scattered.

'What the hell?' Pansy shoved aside her blankets and looked over. Bedding was on the floor, Astoria's toiletries were heaped higgledy-piggledy over the cold stone. She looked at the black wand scorches under the bed and across the granite walls and finally her dark eyes fell on the blue and grey coat of arms underneath the bed. Leaping under the bed she grabbed the scrap of fabric and screamed.

"FUCK!" She yelled as she saw the nail marks in the bed post and ran out of the room. Ignoring the cat calls from the various students milling around the common room she flew up to the room that Draco and Blaise shared with a couple of boys and hammered on the door.

"Easy Pansy, I know you're willing to drop them for almost anyone but I think you need underwear on for that." One of the urchins in their year, Riley Briggs hollered from the foot of the stairs, without even looking Pansy sent a hex behind her and heard Brigg's squeal as he was launched upside down.

"Pans, what is wrong?" Blaise opened the door and yawned, he didn't even make a comment at the flailing Riley; however he was surprised when Pansy barged past and burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" Draco sat up, wiping the sleep away from his eyes.

"She's gone. Astoria's gone, none of her stuff is there and there were signs of a struggle and I found this." Pansy sobbed and hiccupped, barely even noticing that her ankles were sinking through the floor. Blaise tugged under her arms and sat her on the bed as Draco rushed around, yanking on trousers and a shirt while Pansy sobbed on the bed. "There was even this." She showed the scrap of fabric.

"What do we do?" Blaise said as he dressed just as quickly.

"I should let Briggs down." Pansy sighed and automatically stood up, it took a lot of effort for her to pull herself together and started to traipse back down the stairs.

"Pansy go get dressed, we need to find Daphne." Draco whispered in the girl's ear and her brain kickstarted again. Daphne. Bloody Daphne Greengrass.

"We should get Weasley as well." She whispered back, smirking as Blaise finished her spell on Riley and he fell in a rather ungraceful heap. Getting back to the empty dorm, Pansy threw on a skirt and a t-shirt and joined Draco and Blaise at the foot of the stairs with a determined look on her face.

"I'll find the Gryffindors." Blaise whispered and mentally started calling for Luna as they headed into the main body of the school. However they didn't have to look far; Saint Potter and Granger were huddled with Luna and looked just as frantic as Pansy did.

'Luna, abandoned classroom, third floor, bring those two.' He mentally whispered and saw the blonde nod and started to tug the two confused Gryffindors.

When they were all huddled in together Hermione almost exploded.

"Where's that bloody Greengrass, she's taken Ron hasn't she?!" Her shrill voice was raising and it was Harry that had to silence her, lest they had a live porno kick off in front of them.

"We think the Greengrass family have taken them, Astoria's gone as well." Draco said quietly and seriously and Hermione stopped herself from continuing her rant.

"Astoria's gone as well?" Harry looked towards Pansy, seeing she was close to tears, the dark haired Slytherin girl nodded, biting her lip and blinking quickly to stop the unshed tears from falling. Silently the Chosen One wrapped his arms around Pansy who sobbed into his shoulder.

"You don't know what they'll do to her. She's disgraced them, dirtied their name by hanging around with Ronald. He's a blood traitor and they're purists through and through." Pansy's voice was thick from the crying.

"Mr and Mrs Greengrass are almost as bad as my parents." Draco said quietly and watched as Hermione hovered near him. Instead of holding his hand, the brunette looped her arm through his blazer clad one and offered comfort by resting her head on his shoulder; it was all they could do with her power.

"You know where Astoria lives?" Luna asked from the corner and the four turned to see her encased in Blaise's tall frame, his arms creating a barrier around her slight form.

"Yeah I've been there almost every summer." Pansy hiccupped again, wiping away tears but not moving from Harry's proximity.

"Then we need to go there." Blaise said simply. "We'll have to tell Snape first, I think he has the right to know one of his students has been kidnapped…"

"No, no teachers." Harry cut the Italian off. "We do this solely with us. We leave a note to Snape or whoever and we go there ourselves. This doesn't need to be publicised." Harry said firmly.

"You know your way in definitely Pansy?" Hermione murmured, Harry could already see the ideas flashing across her head.

"I know my way in and around. What's concerning is the security on the place. I can apparate us to the point outside their boundaries but they have caterwauling charms and an array of deterrents." Pansy cocked her head as she remembered every scrap of information.

"From what I can see in Pansy's head some of them are pretty complex." Luna said dreamily from the corner; she had perfected her talent by zoning in on just an individual's head and if she was particularly connected, like Blaise and her, she could almost see out of their eyes.

"You're forgetting we have a Ravenclaw and the brightest witch of the age on our side." Draco hummed, feeling Hermione giggle, her eyes laughing at his compliment.

"Her mother was the smartest witch for Hogwarts grades until Hermione came along." Pansy reminded them. "It's going to be tough."

"We do this this afternoon. It's a Hogsmeade afternoon we can easily sneak away." Draco and Harry looked at one another and for the first time there was no scathing look or distrust, only determination.

* * *

A/N: Excuse the spelling mistakes I just wanted it published before my month deadline!


	15. Lost

**A/N:** Okay well I'm slap bang in the middle of exam season so I thought, rather than not updating at all for a month and a bit, I'd give you a short teaser and then go back to the revision that's plaguing me. Deal?

* * *

**Lost**

Ron groaned softly as the weak light filtered in. He hadn't felt this bad since the last party with the others, but this time he hadn't drank an entire of firewhiskey, and there was no Seamus to dare him.

His eyes protested opening but he had no idea where he was, it was cold and as he looked at the bare room panic flooded his system. The bare walls gave no clue but the barred window that was set high up onto the wall meant this was a bad situation.

What happened last night? His brow furrowed but he remembered the almost fatal accident with Daphne then the talk with Harry and Hermione who attempted to logic out his power, Hermione had shown him the muggle book and jabbered on about some guy called Jasper and then Ron had gone off to bed.

Only he couldn't sleep, he was worried about Astoria. He needed to explain to her what was going on, she must've been so confused, and he needed to know whether Malfoy and Parkinson had told her that he nearly killed her sister.

Only it hadn't worked like that.

He'd been heading to the Slytherin Common Room when it went black.

"What the fuck?" He groaned and heard a sinister chuckle to his left. He painfully rolled over, feeling muscles protest and he spied a door in the corner.

"Where am I?!" He shouted, barely having the energy to get off the makeshift bed that had been thrown in the corner.

"Shut it blood traitor. We'll deal with you later." The voice grated on his nerves and Ron went cold.


	16. The Dark Side of The Family

A/N: So I think they're slightly OOC, okay it's the mixed pairing, they're gonna be out of character, but even so this chapter hasn't sat well. It's been written for a while and it's just niggling, so feel free to leave reviews to tell me if you feel the same. Something's just not right and I cannot, for the life of me, pinpoint it! So if you guys can, please tell me for the love of Gods please tell me.

So I can fix it.

* * *

**The Dark Side of the Family**

Astoria turned her tear stained face to her older sister.

"How can you do this Daphne?" She gritted her teeth and stared at her hard faced sister. "After everything we did together, after all the shit we put up with?" She hissed and saw no trace of guilt across her sister's face. "So much for your promise to always protect me…" Astoria snarled.

"Ria I am saving you." Daphne bit out and Astoria screeched.

"You have no right to call me Ria!" She growled and watch Daphne still, but the Greengrass mask was firmly in place and Astoria had dishonoured the family name. "What have you done with Ron?"

"The _Weasley_?!" Her sister hissed and without another word, stalked from the room. Astoria's heart plummeted when she came back with her father and her uncle. The looks on their faces said it all.

However unbeknownst to the Slytherin girl the rabble rescue party were just outside her family's boundary and a plan was being laid out.

"Let's be honest Hermione, your power is pretty damn useless right now." Harry shrugged and Hermione nodded, "We need you and Luna to get us through whatever enchantments are over this house and then back out again. Pansy and Blaise you're going to get us in safely through those front doors." The two Slytherin's nodded and Draco raised an eyebrow.

"What about you Potter?" There was no malice or sarcasm in his words though.

"I'm going to try and find Ron, you three try and find Astoria. Do not kill anyone." Harry had a grim look of determination that was mirrored amongst the others. Pansy couldn't quite believe they were doing this but as Lovegood and Granger started to remove the enchantments without alerting the inhabitants it all became very real.

"You need to get us through that door Pans." Blaise whispered as his fingers looped through hers, she nodded and pressed her lips together pulling all of her concentration into one bundle at the centre of her mind. After what felt like aeons they reached the front door, Hermione and Luna waited patiently outside, ducking down from the windows.

"We can't get through this front door no matter what we try, it's an open from the inside ward and nothing we've tried is breaking it. If we try any more we're going to alert whoever is in there. It's down to you guys." Luna murmured, smiling softly at Blaise who ran his fingers through her hair.

"Where's Harry?" Pansy whispered seeing they were missing one vigilante. Hermione pressed her finger to her lips and pointed at a small brown mouse at the feet.

"Take him with you then let Draco in." Hermione mouthed and Pansy nodded at the bushy haired Gryffindor before scooping the mouse into her free hand.

"Don't wriggle Potter I really dislike mice." She cringed but smirked as the mouse sat on his haunches and stared at her. Closing her eyes again she felt Blaise's power settle over her like a blanket before she spread hers through him.

It was complicated and painful; it made her joints ache and it made her body cry out in pain, the throbbing from her head was almost excruciating, it was dizzying but she made it through the front door which Blaise began to cast charms on Draco slipped through the open door as Pansy put a mousey Harry down. Watching the mouse scamper off she felt Blaise's power wash over her again and the three explored the house, wands drawn.

They found Astoria in the parlour, her father had his wand pressed to the young girl's throat. Blood and tears were in a wash down her face and Pansy almost broke cover when Astoria's scream pierced the silence of the hallway. Draco held her back and held a warning hand on her shoulder, his eyes begging her not to blow cover. Blaise peeked round once more and saw only three threats; the father, and two other men.

"Do you really think that Weasley scum is worth this pain Astoria?" The man yelled as Pansy slipped to the second entrance in the room. "Just denounce your lust for the ginger haired traitor and we can make everything better." Another scream and Pansy gripped her wand. She watched from the alcove as Draco slammed a bookcase into one of the men, the ancient tomes crushing him before the solid oak followed with a sickening crunch. Blaise took out one with a well aimed spell but both Slytherins froze as the man held his wand to the bleeding girl's throat. He never saw Pansy though.

She crept from the alcove silently while he threatened Draco and Blaise and she pressed her wand tip into his back feeling his muscles paralyse at her silent spell. She watched the grey haired man fall at her feet and without another word she kicked him out of the way and released a sobbing Ria.

"Draco look after her I have to find Harry." Pansy kissed her friend's head and ran off down the hallway.

'Where would I keep a dirty blood traitor?" She pondered as she stood in the hallway. 'Dungeon.' She felt the chill in her stomach but ran down the steps anyway. She knew the Greengrass mansion like the back of her hand; Ria, Daph and her had spent a lot of time as kids with each other, mapping the massive house while their parents worked or whatever it was they did.

Slipping on the last step Pansy found herself staring down a wand, a greasy man held it in the middle of her face, the leer on his face made her feel ill and she stammered.

"Miss Parkinson." He stared at her face. "I remember you, flaunting that body of yours while your father and I had a couple of meetings. You wanted me so badly." He snorted and hacked out so phlegm, spitting it in a corner. Pansy's stomach turned.

"Sercery Mortin." She suddenly remembered who he was and felt the ice cold flood of fear again; he was a horrible horrible man, he was a rapist.

"You remember me." He smiled again, revealing crooked teeth that a simple dentistry spell would've fixed. He looked so proud that she remembered him and came in closer.

"Petrificus Totalus." Pansy froze up, but not from a spell. There was a thunk as Mortin's prone form fell at her feet and she saw Harry, wand drawn at the end of the corridor.

"Harry." She sighed and he pulled her into a hug.

"I've found Ron, I need a hand carrying him out." Pansy followed the Gryffindor into a dank cell and heaved an unconscious Ron onto her shoulder as Harry did.

"He needs to eat less sweets." She puffed and flicked her wand at his prone form. She was as useless at levitation spells as Harry was; it was the muggle way then.

The three slipped and slid their way up the stone steps until the reached the hallway where Draco and Blaise were carrying Astoria.

"Let's get out of here." Draco grunted as he balanced Astoria and opened the door to see a worried Hermione and Luna.

"There's a guard due at almost any minute let's move." Hermione fretted, locking her gloved hand into Draco's yanking them down the tunnel she and Luna had made through the protective enchantments.


	17. Escape & Explanation

A/N: Okay so a massive thank you to all my reviewers for chapter 16, Shaymars included because you kicked me up the backside to actually post that chapter, and Angels-heart1 thank you! Also a big thank you to Whenallelsefails who read the entire 16 chapters in one sitting; I am incredibly impressed!

Anyway I hope this chapter will be okay, it still niggles a little! Long awaited I know… Shaymars again, I owe you thanks!

* * *

**Escape & Explanation **

They reached the edge of the boundary but not in time to escape the guard. Curses exploded around them as the Greengrass reinforcements arrived.

"What the bloody hell is going on?!" Harry yelled as he ducked behind a stone column, tugging an unconscious Ron into the unkempt garden.

"They're protecting their blood line Potter, it's something all purebloods have to put up with!" Draco shouted back as he pulled Hermione into him dodging chunks of flying masonry.

"They're going to be here any minute." Luna screamed as she shot a curse and watched one of the men fall.

"Dirty blood traitors. Filth of this Earth! Kill Potter." There were screams echoing round and Draco had thrown himself over Astoria's prone form as the curses rebounded.

"We need to get back to Hogwarts!" Blaise shouted out, "Luna, take Astoria and get back to the school now! Hermione, take Pansy and Ron and get going!" He shouted and shot another curse around the pillar. Luna pressed her lips to his briefly before grabbing Astoria's arm and apparating them out of here.

"I'm not leaving you." Pansy shouted back, her eyes focused on Harry as he delayed the men bearing down on them.

"Hermione, leave." Draco was begging the Gryffindor as they only just deflected a curse in time. There was a brief heartbeat of time when everything seemed to stop – the sounds of jinxes and spells muted a little and it was just Hermione and Draco. She stared into his grey eyes, seeing the panic reflected there and nodded once. She stroked her gloved hand over his cheek and smiled softly.

"I'll wait up." She whispered as Draco started to shove her towards Pansy. The two girls grasped hands whilst keeping a firm grip on Ron before they too disappeared in a twist of colours.

The three almost landed on Luna and Astoria but they rolled out of the way just in time. Hermione looked up, slightly disoriented but they were outside Hogwarts boundary line, in a section of woodland that marked the border of Hogwarts and Hogsmede.

Hermione, Pansy and Luna lay side by side on the grass and dirt, breathing hard.

"They're going to be okay." Pansy murmured to them all, worrying about the three boys they left trapped, facing the anger of the Greengrass family.

Speaking of who, Astoria started to stir on the grass, her unconscious form had landed in a heap and she whimpered in pain. It pulled the other three girls out of their anxious thoughts and they slowly, achingly moved towards Ron and Ria.

"Pansy." The younger girl whispered fearfully, the last twenty four hours were a painful and betraying blur in her head.

"It's okay Ria I'm here, you're safe now. Weas…Ron's safe too, we've got you." The Slytherin girl brushed away stray hairs from the girl's bruised face and smiled softly.

"Sweet jesus that hurts." Luna groaned, her head was pounding, the battle had broken her barriers quicker than she'd have liked and the fight had left her reeling, echoes of her connection with Blaise ricocheting in her skull, whilst Astoria's frightened mind was like a wild horse rearing in her head.

"Easy Luna, we're gonna get the medical wing and we are gonna sort this out." Hermione whispered, more or less unaffected by the past few events, she levitated Ron with a flick of her wand as Pansy did the same with Astoria, the bushy haired brunette pulling Luna to her feet, aiding the blonde who was cradling her head in her hands.

When they finally made it into Madame Pomfrey's sight, chaos ensued. The Headmistress was roused from her study and the Heads of Houses all collected into the hospital wing to view the five students. Astoria was terrified; this was her family but as soon as Professor Snape clapped eyes on her anxious face he left with a curt nod. Her heart sank, she knew she wouldn't have a family come this summer to go back to. Pansy was sat with the younger girl, her arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder while each conscious student told their story. Ron was still out cold.

Snape came back in alone and sat beside his two Slytherin students. The question of the three boys hung in the air like a fog.

"Tell me about the additional magic you three girls hold." McGonagall had also sat down at the foot of the bed, as did Sprout and Flitwick. Both Luna and Pansy turned to Hermione who sighed and scrunched her nose up in thought.

"Well we believe it was the night we all got detention." Hermione started nervously. "We're pretty sure it had something to do with the thunderstorm that night." She stopped as Snape pulled out a wad of parchment and a quill but the once grumpy teacher politely motioned for her to carry on.

"We all have a different power you see." Luna piped up. "Mine's telepathy, and it doesn't seem to matter if you are a Legilimens Professor Snape, it doesn't appear to mean anything to my power." She smiled up at the shock written all over the teachers face.

"My power is the ability to pass through solid objects." Pansy said softly, drawing attention back to her and a now sleeping Astoria. "According to Harry, Ron also has a secret power – he can have an effect on the way people behave around him." She shrugged as the group stared at the unconscious redhead.

"What about you Miss Granger?" Professor Sprout and was surprised to see the young woman blush.

"Her power is somewhat different Professor." Pansy suddenly butted in, much to Snape's shock.

"I need you to elaborate Miss Parkinson." Headmistress McGonagall's gaze flicked between the Slytherin and Gryffindor girl.

"Oh for Godric's sake" Hermione muttered, "My power apparently works when I have bare skin contact with purebloods. It… it makes them incredibly attracted to me, and makes them… for want of a better phrase, 'jump my bones'." She shrugged, blushing to the roots of her hair and looking away from the flabbergasted teachers.

But before another word could be said, an auror came in with an unconscious Harry in his arms. Pansy and Hermione leapt to their feet as Blaise and Draco supported one another in behind them.


	18. Reunion

A/N: Okay so it's a biggie chapter for my beautiful reviewers - guys you really do make me laugh every time I read your reviews so a massive thank you! Night23 again you read it all at once... impressed and flattered thank you very much! So anyway a much quicker update (I hope) and I really hope you guys like this one!

Oh yes... there's a lemon at the end!

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**Reunion**

Harry was deposited on the bed and Madam Pomfrey tended to the dark haired man, clucking every so often as her wand twirled above Harry's unconscious form. Pansy hovering, hands wringing was not missed by Professor Snape, who was surprised at his student's behaviour towards Potter. Luna had helped Blaise into the next bed, her mind anxiously reading his, checking where he ached and twinged. Hermione had all but dragged a recalcitrant Draco into the next hospital bed, ignoring his protests of being 'fine'. She was careful not to let their skin touch but she stared at him worriedly, watching as other medi-witches scampered out of the office and tended to the wounds scattered across the three boys' bodies.

Blaise wasn't too badly battered but Luna insisted he stay in for the night, Hermione tried to argue that Draco needed to stay, but the battle of the wills was won by the blonde who was determined to be back into his own bed by the end of the night while Pansy anxiously watched over Harry, sat in the chair beside his bed as he was still unconscious.

"Seeing as Mr Potter will not be talking any time soon, I suggest Mr Malfoy and Mr Zabini, you fill in the gaps for us." Headmistress McGonagall was still stern, despite having eight of her best students laid up in the hospital room. In all truth she was set on knowing why her students, as good as they may be, decided to disappear and play the vigilante heroes.

"What on earth possessed you to go to the Manor alone, without warning a teacher?!" McGonagall's Scottish brogue became more and more apparent, signalling the shaming part of her lecture.

"It's my fault really." Pansy whispered as she still sat next to Harry, the teachers turned inquisitively towards her. "Astoria's my best friend," the girl was still fast asleep in her hospital bed "She barely even twigged when I kept slipping through doorways or walls, or even the floor. I didn't think when I went to Draco and Blaise; I just wanted her found and safe. We all know what our pureblood parents are like when it comes to marriage and purity. Astoria just fell for the wrong guy." Pansy said, tears tracking down her face again as her gaze flicked between Astoria and Harry.

"Was it just about blood purity?" Professor Sprout stared at the battle-worn students in front of her.

"It's harder for other people to understand." Draco said suddenly, propping himself up on the pillows. "We are brought up to believe that our blood rules everything; it's why I was such a dick… I mean a bad person when I first joined Hogwarts – it is what we are taught to believe. We also have the idea of marriage drummed into us, keeping our lines pure. Pansy and I understand that better than almost anyone, maybe apart from the Greengrass sisters." He shrugged, ashamed of the way his parents acted and treated him. Hermione's head pressed against his shoulder in comfort and he smiled softly.

"Mr and Mrs Greengrass heard about Astoria practically betraying the family by associating herself with blood traitors." Blaise murmured, his thumb idly stroking small circles onto Luna's hand. "Draco and I were determined to find Astoria because pureblood scourging is still archaic and wrong. It is illegal but it still practised. Luna, Hermione and Harry came with us because they were worried about Ron. I mean we probably would have found and taken Ron with us but he wouldn't have been our priority." Blaise sighed fidgeting on his bed.

"I thought this would have all gone by now…" Flitwick chirruped from his chair.

"Apparently not." McGonagall had a grim look on her face and she turned to address the students that were awake. "When Miss Greengrass wakes, tell her not to worry, that the Professors and I are dealing with this situation, Madam Pomfrey tells me all three are stable and that they will be okay, but you _will all_ remain overnight here." She silenced Draco's protests with a look. He sulkily fell silent under her piercing gaze, which amused his godfather more than anything.

It was when the teachers had collected back in the Headmistress' study that their calm façades broke.

"How is it possible for the Greengrasses to break into Hogwarts? We are the most secure place in Britain!" Flitwick was somewhat disgruntled his charms hadn't been strong enough.

"I don't think it's because they attacked us, Daphne Greengrass was on her parents' side." Snape said drily, the strange happenings were making his sore knee creak even more as he elevated it.

"So what do we do Severus, she's your student, how do we go about solving this?" Sprout took her hat off and pulled lightly at her curly hair.

"I haven't got a clue. They family themselves are at St Mungo's; the students really did a good job on them." Snape smiled, "despite their uneven training in Defence Against the Dark Arts they did a damn good job at defending themselves."

"That's all very well and good Severus, and I never thought I'd hear you compliment Potter and Granger but what do we do now. Miss Greengrass will be practically an orphan. You can very well bet that Mr Malfoy, Miss Parkinson and Mr Zabini will be disowned by their families at this rate…" Minerva was cut off by the screech of her owl Artemis coming in the window. A letter was tied to her leg and Minerva was filled with a foreboding as she took the parchment from her bird.

"Who's it from?" Filius Flitwick had his own pointed hat off his head.

"Mrs Greengrass, it seems she was not in the house when her husband decided to go rogue and put a stop to his youngest daughter's romantic tendencies." She let the letter fall to the desk.

"This is going to take up so much time." Severus groaned, summoning a bottle of firewhiskey and four glasses.

Each student had put up a silencing charm on the bed; Pansy was still sat beside Harry, watching him carefully while her gaze occasionally flicked to Astoria. As the younger girl didn't stare, Pansy felt it was safer to stay with Harry. Luna had jumped out of her own bed and tucked herself into Blaise's, his arms wrapped around her small frame as the pair cuddled quite happily, curtains drawn, silencing spells in place as they murmured to one another.

"Don't do that to me again." Luna whispered, her hand resting on his chest as she stared at him.

"Do what?" The Italian murmured back.

"Don't ever make me leave you again." She raised an eyebrow and dark skinned Slytherin smiled softly; Luna Lovegood had always been a freak in his mind, but since meeting the real Luna Lovegood Blaise realised the eccentric Ravenclaw had a much darker and more determined side. He laughed softly at her expression, the frown deepened as he continued to chuckle.

"I never want you to leave me, la mia ragazza bella." His soft croon in Italian made her bones turn to jelly and she settled on his chest with a contented sigh.

"Good, or I'll set the Comostores on you." She whispered into his chest, hearing it rumble again under her ear as he laughed.

"Yes love." Luna could hear the smirk in Blaise's voice but felt her eyes drooping and a retort died on her lips as sleep tugged at her senses. Her dreams were filled with Blaise.

Hermione and Draco on the other hand weren't as wrapped around each other as Blaise and Luna; she sat in the chair beside his bed, watching him anxiously.

"I'm not going to drop dead Granger." The blonde reminded her with a smirk, a smirk that only grew as her expression was droll.

"Thanks _Malfoy._" She hissed and then her expression softened. "I thought I lost you." She murmured, but the sudden tenderness vanished again, "then who would I have to bully me or who would I harass back?" She smiled seductively

"Get into bed Hermione." Draco pulled back his own covers and made space for her. She was startled by the change in events.

"What if…?" She drew off, watching with wide eyes as he smirked again, lust apparent in his eyes.

"Granger I just nearly died, you just nearly died all for the sake of two of our friends, remind me that I am human." He said drily and watched the blush fan across her cheeks, which he thought was adorable. "It's silenced anyway." He gestured at the closed curtains and he was almost surprised when Hermione launched herself at him. One touch of her lips to his and he felt the magic fizzle in his blood – though some part vaguely noticed not as much as before, a lot of the lust was already there before her skin came into contact with his.

She moaned into the kiss, also feeling her power working across her body. Wait was it her power or was it his fingers that struggled to remove her shirt? Suddenly she didn't care as his fingers ghosted up her sides, tormenting her slightly as she whined.

"Want something Granger?" He murmured against her throat, he was fighting with the instinct surging through him just to fuck her senseless, but he forgot that she was just as smart as him and when her fingers carded through his hair, tugging on the strands he felt himself purr beneath her touch.

"Depends what you want Malfoy." She growled her tongue and teeth nibbling at his throat and earlobe, her fingers still pulling at his hair, and without warning he pulled her shirt off over her head. She pouted as she released her grip on his hair but that didn't stop her kissing him as he threw her top the floor. "Fuck Draco." She said against his lips, feeling his hips buck into hers.

"Need you now Mione." He groaned, feeling her scrabble for the hem of his shirt which was also strewn on the floor. She shimmied out of her jeans, seduction forgotten as the need to feel each other consumed them. His pants joined her underwear on the floor and he greedily took her nipple in his mouth before flipping them so he was atop her.

"Draco pleeease." She keened and desperately searching for his wand, the protection charms cast he entered her in one swift movement that had them both growling and moaning. He could feel her body practically welcoming him and his head dropped to her shoulder while her nails made half crescents in his shoulders. "Please, move." She gasped, desperate to fill the ache that was burning in her stomach.

He complied with her wishes and began to thrust, slowly at first but it wasn't enough, for either of them and the pace sped up. It became hurried and wild, disjointed and crazy, the bed rocked and creaked but neither of them cared; the fire burning in their veins propelled them forwards. His teeth marked her throat while she made deep cuts in his shoulders and arms, her legs locked around his waist. He could feel her tighten around him, her moans dying on her lips and she gasped for air, it signalled his own release and he collapsed on top of her seeing stars.

Wordlessly he pulled himself off of her while she silently cleaned them both, her wand, miraculously still atop the bedside table. Not another word was spoken as their clothes refolded themselves on the chair and Draco pulled her sweaty naked form into his chest, spooning her and pressing his lips to her shoulder again.

"You'll have scarred me." He whispered and he heard her giggle.

"Good." She whispered before burrowing beneath the white sheets and started to drop off. He smiled to himself as her eyes closed and pressed another gentle kiss to her forehead before closing his eyes and surrendering to Morpheus.


	19. Family Fun

A/N: Okay, terribly long delay again but I was attempting the 30 day challenge (some of you may have seen) but even that ground to a halt as a fly to Spain in 2 days where I will be furiously writing in notebooks and desperately missing my laptop and internet to upload the stories. Anyways real life got in the way of my fanfiction worlds and I was dragged kicking and screaming to reality.  
However I have secluded myself away from suitcases and passports and (thanks to wonderful kick up the backside Shaymars _again_) and I think I'm just about drawing this to a close. I think. Couple more chapters definitely.

This only a teasing little filler, just to keep your appetites hungry and to keep you wonderful people off my back

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**Family Fun**

Lucius Malfoy sat in the courtroom, watching as Percival Greengrass along with his brother, Dexter and a few extended cousins were being tried for crimes against humanity. Torture just wasn't as accepted, or overlooked these days as it was when Lucius was a child.

His wife had refused to come with him, Narcissa was comforting Melena Greengrass, in fact there were barely any of the pureblood women here; it was all the fathers.

Lucius quite understood the way Percival felt – it was his bloodline, it was his authority to protect it from being sullied. Sadly the younger generations didn't seem to see it that way anymore; the ideas were too restrictive and old-fashioned. Thank God Draco was sensible about the girls he chose. Lucius caught Wilbur Parkinson's eye and the pair shared a grim look – they were both quite sympathetic for the Greengrass family, imagine the shame of being caught with a Weasley.

The blonde shuddered, the Weasleys' were at least purebloods – blood traitors but at the very least purebloods. At least Astoria hadn't opted for Potter. He shuddered again at the thought of the other thirds of the golden trio – _Saint Potter _and that _ghastly Granger._ The thought of them sullying poor pure-blood-lines made him feel ill and angry.


	20. A Change In The Wind

A/N: Shaymars I'm starting to think we have a psychic timing now, or I have your ghostly voice nagging me in my head to get a move on! Anyway whatever it is you made me write this a little faster!

This is definitely drawing to a close, I'm looking at two more chapters. With a nice big explosive finale!

Totally unbeta'd and written with the speed of a madwoman so mistakes will probably be there!

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**A Change in the Wind**

Pansy had been anxious as Harry appeared from the infirmary long after Blaise or Draco had left, Granger and Lovegood had been ecstatic but strangely the bushy haired Gryffindor had been sympathetic to Pansy working. Maybe it was also that Harry was her best friend, that and her other best friend was still laid up in bed.

Harry smiled at the dark haired Slytherin, seeing straight through her mask of feigned dis-interest. He felt achy and old before his time but at the sight of Pansy Parkinson his stomach did a little flip and he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. He smirked as she carried on checking her nails and gave him a dry look as she looked up. Pansy couldn't hide the relief on her face as she saw him saunter over to her but she had a damn good attempt at it.

"What took you so long Potter?" She arched an eyebrow but said nothing as he pressed his lips to hers without a word. She sank into the kiss, feeling every worry and pain melt in his touch.

"I was planning how to say hi." He grinned as he pulled back, delighted to see a blush on her face.

Suddenly aware that they were in a more common corridor, though thankfully empty, Pansy slipped into a door, or she slipped _through_ a door into one of the abandoned classrooms that littered the school. Shaking his head, but with a smile on his face, Harry looked around before following his sweet little viper.

Now Harry and Pansy may not have seen anyone, it didn't mean there wasn't anybody there. Blaise and Luna were hidden away into one of the shallow alcoves, cloaked by Blaise's very helpful power. Blaise was still very much a Slytherin, and very much the Dark Prince, even after being softened by Luna's quirks he still had a penchant for blackmail. Blackmailing Pansy was always a solid but having a little quirk over Potter was just a gold mine.

Luna had been listening intently to the emotions and insecurities rocketing through the other couple's minds but when the passion had started she slipped away and became very aware of her boyfriend's conscious.

_Her Boyfriend._

The very small, very sane part of Luna had always lamented she would be alone forever and never expected Blaise Zabini to be the one that cuddled her at night. In fact that part was still unbelieving of her situation even when his strong dark arms were wrapped around her waist. Feeling his breath on her neck Luna felt his vindictive thoughts seep into her mind and mentally tutted at him. Turning in his arms, still under the enchantment of invisibility, she murmured softly that she wanted to go for a walk.

Disappearing to the edge of the Forbidden Forest Blaise lifted his power from the both of them. His breath was still taken away by the slight girl in front of him. It hadn't been long at all, and maybe he was still in the sappy romantic stages of the relationship but she was beautiful. Why he'd never noticed it before he'd never known. She was dainty and so fragile, he'd never wanted to protect something so much in his life and he would fight for her as long as he'd lived.

He watched his strange girlfriend feed the thestrals that they both saw and she giggled at the foal that shrieked at her. He smiled softly as she played around but the smile faded as she turned to him with a serious look in her usually dreamy eyes.

"Blaise Zabini." Her voice was stern.

"What's wrong?" He worried that there was a spell or hex placed on her, it was so out of character for her to behave like this.

"Blackmail is wrong." She said suddenly and he was completely lost at the turn of conversation. "I forbid you to use Pansy and Harry's relationship to your own gain." She crossed her arms and looked uncharacteristically angry. He raised his eyebrow as comprehension dawned.

"But it's what's required of being a Slytherin." He argued and took a step towards her. She held firm and her mouth drew into a frown.

"You're more than a Slytherin though." She whispered and his cocky attitude faltered. "More than a snake to me." She stared straight at him and she didn't need to mind read to see the guilt on his face.

"You can't ask me to change too much Luna." His voice was suddenly hoarse and he cursed it.

"I'm not asking that. I want to say I don't care if you blackmail other people but I will. However I take offence at you sabotaging your _best friend's_ relationship and chance of happiness." This was an unusually serious moment for the blonde Ravenclaw, but she wouldn't be able to bear it if her boyfriend was the cause of a break up.

Blaise watched the fierce determination written not only on her face, but also throughout her posture. She was strong and defiant against his shrewd cunning and for once the snake in him was close to admitting defeat. Her usually dreamy face held a burst of energy that drew him towards her.

"I promise I won't use it against Pansy nor Potter." Blaise murmured into her hair, quelling the desperate craving to have her in his arms again. He felt her relax against his body and she kissed the bare skin of his collar bone.

Completely unaware of the shift in the relations of the houses, Ron and Astoria were curled up together in the same hospital bed, the curtains drawn around the bed.

"I'm so sorry." Astoria whispered, tearful against his broad chest. Ron tightened his grip around her shoulders, still wary of knocking her bruises.

"Don't be silly Ri." He murmured and his lips pressed to her forehead.

"It's all my fault." The tears were flowing thick down her cheeks and she heard him sigh. "What?" She looked up at him, seeing a myriad of emotions on his face.

"It's not just yours Ri, it's also mine. I need to explain something to you. But I need you to remain level headed. I know that's going to be hard with everything that's happened but I'm being serious." His tone scared her a little but Astoria nodded and the pair reshuffled as he sat up, wincing at the pain in his ribs.

"What's wrong Ron?" She mumbled and knew in her gut she didn't want to hear the answers.

Ron closed his eyes and breathed heavily. Hermione had been to see him already, when Astoria was still sleeping. The best friends had had a lengthy conversation on who should let Astoria into the strange secret that had warped relationships beyond change. Apparently the Slytherins had decided to let Ron share his secret with Astoria. She already knew about Pansy but none of the others. It had been agreed he would break the news to the younger girl. He was in the best position to do so they thought.

"You know about Pansy's power?" Her eyes widened, Pansy had told her to tell no-one but _Ron_ knew? She nodded and he took another deep breath. "Well it's not just Pansy that has powers. Malfoy has them, as does Zabini. Harry and Hermione also have little additions to their ordinary magic. Luna also does. I'm not quite sure why we do, I haven't a doubt that Hermione or Luna will know, Mione at least said she had some theories behind it." Ron gabbled his story and watched the bewildered look on her face as comprehension dawned.

"So you all have powers…" The word tasted weird on her tongue. It clearly wasn't an isolated case, she thought it had just been Pansy, at the wrong end of a jinx or a curse. "What's your power?" She blurted out, staring at the red-head.

"It's kinda complicated." He mumbled and looked at the bed. Without another thought Astoria placed her fingers under his chin and tipped his head up until he looked her in the eye. "My power is the influence of emotions." He whispered, staring straight at her.

"Influence…emotions…"She whispered back.

"I swear Ria I never did it to you consciously. On my soul I never did it to you meaningly!" He was babbling again but she kissed him hard on the lips.

"Regardless of what you may or may not have done to my emotions." She murmured, her fingers stroking over his cheek. "You've made me so much happier than I had been." She smiled softly and was happy to respond when Ron kissed her again. "So what happens now?" Her voice was just about a murmur as they cuddled again.

"I'm not too sure yet. Hermione will be in the library researching it all." Ron whispered and pressed his lips to her ear. "But for now we sleep. We've still got to heal." His arm was gentle across her battered body, but he was the safety and comfort she'd been searching for since she was a baby.


	21. Future, Fun & Frolics

A/N: Okay My wonderful people, I had started writing another chapter, but it was so disjointed. I just hope this one is up to your standards (it's short I'll warn you now).

So here we go, delayed once again but I'm a working girl now!  
Drop me a review because they make my day and make me smile.  
(Shaymars you are fabulous, keep it up!)

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**Future, Fun & Frolics**

"Draco." Hermione purred as the man in question was tracing lazy patterns over her bare back.  
Another marathon session had left them exhausted on his bed; they had to stop bumping into each other. Didn't they?

Draco certainly didn't feel that way; he had knocked into her in the library late at night. She'd been in the restricted section, tiredly researching the source of their additional powers. He'd run his fingers over the bare patch of skin at the nape of her neck. She'd shivered as she felt her powers rear somewhat.  
But was it her power? She knew the feeling of her power; it was a strong desire from the core of her body, it had felt like a current running from her heart to her extremities. This was the feeling of desire, like when she had fancied Ron in her fifth year and every time he hugged her, or the feeling that Viktor had instilled in her with his gentle but rough kisses. It was the feeling of lust rooted in her stomach, there was nowhere near enough electricity registered to be her power.

He'd kissed the same patch, she's twisted in her chair and locked lips with his, wiping his smug smile of his face in a haze of lust.

"Yes Mione?" He whispered back, she was so beautiful and he was stunned by the passion this dried up little book worm unleashed on him. He was also addicted to it. He had craved her touch, her lips, her silky skin against his. He needed to hear her moan his name. He wasn't sure why but he just _needed _her.  
She was stretched out, half atop him, as they lay in the chillier dungeon dormitory. He had pulled the emerald coverlet across the pair of them while his fingers skated across her skin.

"I can't find this. It's frustrating me." She grumbled suddenly, and Draco snorted.

"You can't find anything in the library it must be bad." He teased the girl who flipped him the finger whilst her head rested on his shoulder.

"Fuck you Draco." She whined into his shoulder.

"Been there, done that." He snickered and shouted with laughter as she started to tickle him.

"Yeah yeah, suck it up Draco." She grinned as she ended up straddling, his arms pinned beneath her thighs, she watched the change in his eyes flicker from amusement to lust, mingled with _something else._ She was startled briefly at the look of love that was so apparent in Draco's eyes but she shook it off.  
She and Draco couldn't love one another. They were far too incompatible. Right?

Draco saw the hesitance on her face and wondered when did everything change? Where did _Hermione Granger _fit into the future that was mapped for him. His father had drilled into him the importance of continuing the blood line and not sullying it. Ironically Astoria Greengrass had been a prospective wife, she'd be struck off the list for her dalliances with Ron Weasley.

What the hell would happen to him if his father got wind of this, his mother was okay, as long as he was happy she would accept his choice of girl, that's why she'd pushed Lucius to put Astoria onto the future bride list; Draco and Astoria hadn't argued or really crossed wires unlike most of the girls Lucius had selected. What would happen to Hermione? Ron had been kidnapped by the Greengrass brothers; would his father take Hermione? Would his father hurt her?

The tender, anxious moment passed and the pair went back to rolling around in the covers, Draco nipping at her lips, her throat, her earlobes as Hermione's hips rolled into his.

They could delay this for another night at least.

The next morning, Hermione slipped from the Slytherin Common Room early in the morning and was only vaguely surprised to bump into Harry sneaking out from the girls' dorm.

"Fun morning?" She yawned and ran fingers through errant curls with a smirk pasted on her face.

"You have a Malfoy smile on your face." Harry raised an eyebrow and adjusted his glasses.

"Yeah and you have Parkinson's lipgloss all over your collar." She flicked the white shirt collar, laughing when her best friend coloured.

"Ron's still with Astoria." Harry shrugged as the pair quickly slipped into the dank corridors beneath the black lake.

"That really doesn't surprise me." Hermione said drily, tugging her scarlet jumper over her head and tugging the mixture of sex and morning hair into a very messy was craving a shower and having access to the prefects bathroom was a perk.

"They're the only couple that have come out of the woodwork." His scruffy appearance was added with a five o'clock shadow and his continuous yawning.

"Showers?" She nodded her head towards a statue and it took Harry a little while to twig what she was referring to. It was Boris the Bewildered and Harry finally clicked that she was letting him into the prefects bathroom with him.

"Done." He groaned and pulled his sex fatigued body to the statue.

"Blipperwickets and Morse Code." Hermione mumbled and the statue obligingly swung to the side. The steam that enveloped them as they entered the bathroom was welcome and neither felt sticky and slightly old.

"Harry. What's going to happen with Pansy?" Hermione shouted over the rushing water from her cubicle.

"Well I can ask that question about you and Draco?" Her best friend shouted back and the pair stuck their heads past the tiled cubicle walls. The worried look they shared was enough; how did you date a pureblood Slytherin when you were an impure Gryffindor.

It had never been done before.

Well it had but both participants had ended up in the Infirmary.

"Well it's not really down to us is it?" Harry whispered; it was down to their other halves.

"The school's gonna go nuts when they hear this." Hermione chuckled ruefully and the two Gryffindors carried on washing, studiously avoiding the topic of relationships.

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A/N: No Doubt many spelling mistakes but please accept my most fervent apologies!


	22. Trouble Ahead

A/N: Shaymars you did it again! I went on a bit of a hyper one, bullied my muse from her cave and made her give up this chapter.

I'm so sorry for the delay, I truly am, but my internship and commuting killed me and my HP muse!

Anyway, review as always and tell me if there's any typos. I will endeavour to change this!

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**Trouble Ahead.**

"Tell me this is incorrect!" Lucius threw the Daily Prophet at his wife. The title was enough for his wife to smile, the photo added another dimension. The photo saw undoubtedly her son, with a certain curly headed witch wrapped in his arms. Their heads ducked against one another as a camera flashed. "TELL ME HE IS NOT SLEEPING WITH THAT MUDBLOOD!" Lucius roared and Narcissa raised an eyebrow, her expression frosty as she stared down her furious husband.

"How dare you use that language now Lucius!" Her voice was level, but the anger was unmissable. He shrank back slightly from his wife and fixed her with his own icy stare. His eyes narrowed by his wife was equally as angry as he was, without another word he stormed from the room and Narcissa heard his study door slam close.

'_Draco, _

_As you are all over the tabloid news I fear I should warn you your father is somewhat angry at the photo. I am writing to see if I can meet with Headmistress McGonagall before your father does. _

_Do not worry my love, we will sort it._

_Your darling Mother' _

Penning the missive quickly, she took her owl to the window, the grey beast ruffled her feathers, nipped her fingers affectionately and then took off into morning light.

"Oh Draco darling, really Miss Granger is your choice?" She muttered to the silent hallway but said nothing more as she watched her owl disappear.

"HARRY!" Ron bellowed from the common room and the boy in question with hair more ruffled than usual came bounding down the stairs, tugging his t-shirt into place.

"What?" He ran his hand through his hair and he saw several people in the common room, many tried to look inconspicuous, but Ginny and Ron were next to a silent, tight lipped Hermione. "What's going on?" He came over and pressed his hand to his best friend's shoulder. She refused to look at him and he turned to the Weasleys for help.

"Have you not seen the news Harry?" Ginny whispered and he shook his head. "Hermione's on the front, in _Draco Malfoy's_ arms." She hissed and Harry closed his eyes, scrunching his nose up as he thought.

"We need to find somewhere quiet." Harry muttered to Ron who nodded and Harry pulled Hermione upright, linking his arm with hers.

"All of you lot got nothing better to do?!" Ron bellowed again and the guilty students stopped staring and turned back, chatter resumed as Ginny followed behind.

"What's going on?" Ginny demanded as Harry led Hermione into an old classroom, "Why is Mione behaving the way she is and why is there a picture of her and Malfoy together?" Her arms were crossed and for a brief moment Ron saw his mother echoed in his younger sister.

"Gin it's complicated." Ron tried but there was an outlet of breath from Hermione that stopped him saying any more.

"IT'S BLOODY RITA SKEETER!" She ranted and stood upright, her eyes blazing. She was furious.

"Wait what?" Ginny was baffled, "You and Malfoy are a thing?!" Ginny had her hands on her hips and was eyeballing her best friend.

"Damn woman couldn't stay out of my business! How dare she? Just because she hasn't found out about Harry and Pansy, nor Ron and Astoria! NO IT HAS TO BE ME. That _woman_ is going to regret this." Hermione ranted and the room was silent.

"Excuse me!" Ginny had broken through the angry Hermione and was glaring at the three assembled. "Now I suggest you all explain what the hell is going on here! PARKINSON and HARRY?!" All three of the golden trio were silent and sheepish. "Ron and Astoria, I know about because what self respecting sister wouldn't know why one of her brother's is in hospital. But you two…" She pointed at Harry and Hermione, "need to start explaining. Now."

"Gin…"

"No no don't you dare Gin me!" She was glaring but then her eyes showed understanding. "Is this the potion that Krum sent you?" Her eyes narrowed.

"It's do with that experiment but that was a white lie Gin. You have to swear not to tell anyone not even Dean." Hermione pleaded with her best friend and the red-head stared suspiciously at the three before her.

"Start talking or else."

"Draco. You've got a rather insistent owl outside and a crowd." Pansy said drily as there was a loud hum outside. "You've got the Slytherins well stirred!" She said cheerfully and the blonde scowled at his friend. His best friend was stretched out on _his_ bed looking somewhat smug.

Pansy brought the owl on her arm and Draco sighed but recognised the owl at once.

"Hello Athena. Owl treats Blaise top drawer." As the bird fluttered to rest on the table Blaise fed the happy bird before Pansy led her outside.

"It's from my mum." Draco said without opening it. "Do I dare?"

"Yes, it's your mum not your dad." Blaise said shifting back on the bed to find his warm spot. Draco tore at the parchment and read the few lines before smiling slightly. "I was right wasn't I?" Blaise said smugly, earning a dead leg off his blonde bestie.

"Yeah she wants a meet up with McGonagall." He threw the letter on the pillow and groaned. "Bloody Rita Skeeter. I do not want to be her when Mione tracks her down." He snickered. "But I do want to watch." Draco grinned and stood up, jostling Blaise who cracked open one eye.

"You're going out there?" He quirked an eyebrow and Pansy looked up from filing her nails.

"Yeah I'll be old news when old Skeets gets hold of the news about Pansy and Potter." He laughed and Pansy blanched and groaned, falling face first onto Blaise's pillow.

"Shoot me now." She groaned.

Draco left under a barrage of questioning but the final straw was when Millicent Bulstrode sneered about him being tainted; it seemed that Hermione's silent spells had helped an awful lot.

"You've been spending too much time with Granger." Pansy said as she stepped over Millicent's frozen form. Astoria was waiting at the entrance.

"Hermione's up with McGonagall, with Harry and Ron and Ginny Weasley." She shrugged. "She wants us all there." The four Slytherins traipsed up the staircases into the Headmistresses quarters and were greeted with more than their other halves.

"Mum?" Blaise stuttered.

"Mother what are you doing here?" Pansy was equally as shocked.

"That's quick work." Draco raised an eyebrow before kissing his mother's cheek.

"I work fast Draco when your father is tearing up my home." She mirrored his look and he smiled softly.

On the opposite side of the room sat the Weasley parents; Draco remembered them from the few times he had crossed paths with them, but they were in deep conversation with Astoria Greengrass' mother who smiled at her daughter as she entered. Xenophilius Lovegood was examining something in a glass case.

"What's going on?" Luna said as she closed the door behind her.

"That's exactly our question Miss Lovegood." The Headmistress' thick Scottish brogue filled the tension filled room.

* * *

But it is totally unbeta'd... I was too busy watching the meteor showers at the moment, are you guys watching as well?!


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